Colorado Mom Shot 20 Times in Head Had Teen Brother ‘Shot for No Reason’ 30 Years Ago: Family

The family of a Denver mom who was shot 20 times in the head after a minor traffic accident is fighting for justice once again — 30 years after her older brother died in a shooting.

“We lived through it before and now we have to live through it again,” said Alex Cabriales, whose younger sister Pamela, 32, was on her way home in 2021 when she was killed.

The shooter, prosecutors allege, was a 14-year-old aspiring gang member.

Remi Cordova, now 17, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with Pamela Cabriales' death. He will be tried as an adult.

On Feb. 20, 2021, Pamela accidentally hit the back of a car as she approached a Denver stoplight while driving home from a dinner out.

Cordova, who was riding in the vehicle she hit, got out and shot her up to 20 times in the head with an AR-15, according to prosecutors who allege the teen wanted to "earn his stripes" to be initiated into the Eastside Crips gang. 

On Friday, a judge ordered Cordova be given a $5 million cash bond. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 25. If convicted Cordova could face 40 years in prison before being eligible for parole. 

As they brace for Cordova's upcoming murder trial, Cabriales said his family is praying the justice system will treat them more fairly this time around.

On Nov. 20, 1994, his 15-year-old brother Noel was shot to death by a man who went on to serve less than four years in prison.

Jesse Gonzales, who was 19, believed Noel was trying to steal a dog in front of his Denver home and opened fire on the younger boy, KUSA-TV reported, citing local newspapers reports at the time. 

"Like my sister, he was also shot for no reason," said Cabriales, who was 8 years old when his brother was killed. "He was just standing on the wrong sidewalk."

Gonzales was initially charged with murder but took a plea deal on a manslaughter charge and served about half of his six-year sentence, according to KUSA.

Cabriales, who was 8 years old at the time, said his Mexican immigrant parents didn't speak English and weren't guided through the process by prosecutors.

They didn't know they had to fight back then, but now we do, said Cabriales, who remains angry that his brother's killer did not serve more time behind bars.

He is determined to see a different outcome in his sister's case.

"To this [justice] system, my brother was just another dead Mexican" but for Pamela, the outcome has to be more just, he said.

“You have to fight for justice because you can’t rely on the justice system to be fair."

Noel and Pamela's murders have devastated the Cabriales family for three decades.

"People say, well finally you can finish this trial and get some closure and start a new chapter in your life, but that’s not true," Cabriales said. "There's never closure on this. We just learn to live with it."

The family, including Pamela’s now 8-year-old son, live in constant fear from the trauma of her violent death, he told The Messenger.

“It messes with me," said Cabriales, the sole surviving sibling, "because I'm ready to be shot at any time."