An 18-year-old man has pleaded guilty to murder in connection with a 2024 shooting at a gas station in west Denver, according to court records.
Ronnie Hernandez, who was 16 years old when he shot and killed 29-year-old Manuel Quintana in June 2024, was sentenced on Monday to 40 years in prison after entering a guilty plea to second-degree murder.
Hernandez was charged as an adult, but his plea deal resulted in the dismissal of five felonies from his case. These charges included first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree murder with extreme indifference, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and illegal discharge of a firearm. Additionally, two violent crime sentence enhancers were also dropped, according to Denver court records.
Denver officers responded to the fatal shooting just before 6:30 p.m. on June 8, 2024, at a gas station located in the 500 block of North Sheridan Boulevard. Upon arrival, police found Quintana suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics transported him to the hospital, where he later died.
A woman who was with Quintana was also shot but survived the attack, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
Denver police identified Hernandez and his co-defendant, Simon Eugene Elijah Gurule, as suspects through automated license plate readers and community tips. Gurule is currently 29 years old, according to court records, though police previously reported his birthdate as three years earlier, which would have made him 32 at the time.
Gurule’s jury trial is scheduled to begin in January. He faces the same original five felony charges as Hernandez and, if convicted of first-degree murder, could be sentenced to life in prison.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/10/21/denver-murder-shooting-ronnie-hernandez/