Teen killer’s social media shows acne, drugs, guns

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — A convicted teen killer was frightened about his pimples whereas he was on the run from police for a lethal capturing, in keeping with social media proof collected by detectives and obtained by the Drawback Solvers.

“I acquired a variety of pimples. That’s what I’m primarily mad about,” then-17-year-old Jonathan Joseph Montoya mentioned in a selfie video, recovered by police investigating a 2019 Wheat Ridge theft and murder.

Montoya was convicted in 2021 for capturing and killing a 23-year-old man throughout the theft. Though Montoya was a juvenile when he fired the gun, he was charged as an grownup and is now serving a 35-year jail sentence.

One other teen, Jalen Wilson, arrange the sufferer to be robbed by telling the sufferer he deliberate to purchase marijuana from him. Wilson was 16 on the time of the murder.

“It’s only a horrible, horrible tragedy introduced on by children that assume weapons are glamorous and simply don’t assume issues by,” mentioned Sheryl Berry, the chief deputy district lawyer who prosecuted the case.

“They appear to be infants. They appear to be infants whenever you see them within the courtroom,” she mentioned.

What’s within the personal messages on social media

The Drawback Solvers filed an open data request for the social media proof collected within the murder case to raised perceive the conduct of teenagers who get weapons and use them to commit violent crimes.

The proof uncovered a number of pictures of Montoya and his accomplices individually posing with weapons. Different proof confirmed he had accessed social media posts or chats about medicine.

Within the selfie video through which Montoya examined his pimples and expressed frustration together with his pimples, he additionally advised the digital camera, “Very not too long ago, I escaped a SWAT raid.”

As he pointed on the lens, he positioned his fingers into the form of a gun. “Younger felon on the run,” he mentioned, explaining how he hid in a sewer system to keep away from the police. On the time, he was additionally on the run from the Division of Youth Providers.

A special social media video recovered by police and obtained by the Drawback Solvers seems to indicate Montoya in that sewer space whereas he was hiding from police.

“I shot someone not too way back,” he continued. “Did all that sh-t in the middle of a month. All l I’ve been doing is robbing folks.”

Snapchat movies and footage

Police additionally obtained proof from the social media accounts of Montoya’s confederate, then 16-year-old Wilson, each earlier than and after the January 2019 murder.

The Drawback Solvers discovered some Snapchat movies that includes Wilson with youthful children and others through which he’s posing with a gun or simulating capturing a gun together with his fingers.

“It appears to me that these children are fascinated with weapons, they usually don’t assume by their conduct. They assume it’s type of enjoyable to interact in these type of robberies,” Berry mentioned. “It’s simply so unhappy.”

A number of different Snapchat movies present Wilson showing to smoke marijuana, generally with Snapchat filters overlaying elements of his face.

Sentencing for teenagers

Wilson is serving a seven-year Youthful Offender System sentence with a suspended, 35-year sentence on the Colorado Division of Corrections.

Which means Wilson might be launched after seven years if he efficiently participates in and completes a structured jail program designed for high-risk youth and younger adults. Berry mentioned this system consists of vocational and academic parts.

If he fails to finish the seven-year program, he’ll instantly start serving the 35-year jail sentence.

Berry mentioned she didn’t advocate for Wilson to have a chance within the Youthful Offender System. “We advocated for a Division of Corrections sentence for him,” she mentioned, explaining that the choose decided the ultimate sentence.

“Seven years for being concerned in a homicide of a person is a little bit robust to swallow, however that’s what our legislature has mentioned is accessible in these circumstances,” Berry mentioned. “Youthful Offender System is accessible for younger grownup offenders or juveniles charged as adults.”