The true story behind Andrew Jenicek case on The Murder Tapes

In Edgewater, Colorado, Andrew Jenicek got out of his car in a strip mall parking lot to pick up barbecue for dinner on April 5, 2018. A routine errand turned out to be one ending in tragedy as he was ambushed by three youthful suspects in an attempted robbery.

Jenicek graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a finance degree and had received a football scholarship at the University of Sioux Falls. He was shot in the chest and then run over by the suspects' vehicle as they fled the scene.

He died at the scene from his injuries. The case drew attention for its swift investigation, relying on surveillance footage and witness accounts, leading to the convictions of all three perpetrators under Colorado's felony murder law.

This story is further presented in the documentary series The Murder Tapes on Investigation Discovery. The Murder Tapes uses raw body camera footage, 911 calls, and interrogations to tell the real story of homicides. Season 10, Episode 4, titled Marked for Murder, aired on December 10, 2025, on ID.

The Murder Tapes: The fatal ambush on Andrew Jenicek

Andrew Jenicek pulled up at the parking area approximately around 7:00 p.m. at or near the corner of West 20th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Jenicek had parked his car and was walking toward a barbecue restaurant when 19-year-old Caleb Joseph Vigil, armed with a handgun, confronted him.

Andrew Jenicek refused Vigil's demand for his wallet. Vigil shot Jenicek once in the chest at close range. The 27-year-old collapsed on the ground, injured and struggling. At the same time, 20-year-old Devon Dritz Howard waited in the driver’s seat of a sedan belonging to their accomplice, 19-year-old Alicia Elena Valdez.

As Vigil fled toward the waiting getaway car, Howard sped away, running Andrew Jenicek over in the process. Jenicek, an employee of the state of Colorado, lay dying in the parking lot, his purse still unopened. The crime scene had been captured on surveillance cameras from start to finish.

The attack appeared random, targeting Andrew Jenicek simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. No prior connection existed between the victim and the assailants, highlighting the senseless nature of the crime. Emergency responders arrived minutes later, but Jenicek could not be saved, as per DenverPost. 

The immediate response and key witness

As gunshots resounded at the strip mall, Alexis Jordan Ellis, who witnessed the shooting, made a call to 911. During her briefing with the 911 dispatcher, Alexis Ellis conveyed her observation about seeing a victim collapse and two fleeing culprits drive away at a high rate of speed in a dark sedan with a specific license number.

Interestingly, Alexis Ellis introduced herself as a witness with previous involvement in a murder case trial. The paramedics declared Andrew Jenicek dead shortly after arriving, and the Edgewater police began to canvass the area for evidence, taking shell casings and blood, amongst other things.

The 911 tape would resurface in The Murder Tapes and offer a recording of the raw fear and need for action at that moment, according to the Denver Post. 

The investigation and suspect apprehension

Edgewater police launched an immediate manhunt, using the witness's description and video evidence to identify the sedan registered to Alicia Valdez. Within days, they linked the vehicle to Caleb Vigil and Devon Howard through traffic cameras and prior records.

The trio had obtained the murder weapon just days earlier, adding to the premeditation concerns. On April 8, 2018, authorities arrested Howard and Vigil after locating the car in a nearby area. Valdez turned herself in shortly after. 

During interrogations, inconsistencies in their stories emerged, but surveillance tied them directly to the scene. Further probes revealed the suspects' post-crime activities: hours after the shooting, Vigil and Howard drove to an Arvada home and fired shots into a bedroom window to intimidate a pregnant woman serving as a witness in a separate trial.

No injuries occurred, but this led to additional charges of aggravated witness intimidation. The next day, they attempted an armed robbery at a Lakewood cell phone store, using the same gun, as the Denver Post reported.

Trials, convictions, and lasting impact

The cases against Vigil, Howard, and Valdez proceeded in Jefferson County District Court. In April 2019, after a 10-day trial, a jury convicted Vigil on 16 counts, including first-degree murder, and Howard on 18 counts, encompassing murder, attempted murder, and witness intimidation.

Both received life sentences without parole on May 31, 2019. Valdez's trial followed in July 2019, with deliberations lasting six days before a guilty verdict on first-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery under the felony murder doctrine, which holds accomplices accountable for deaths during felonies. 

She was sentenced to life in prison on August 23, 2019. The convictions relied heavily on video evidence, witness statements, and ballistic matches. Andrew Jenicek's family expressed relief, though grief lingered, as per the Denver Post. The case, as depicted in The Murder Tapes, illustrates how technology and community input can resolve complex homicides. 

Watch season 10, episode 4 of The Murder Tapes available on ID.