The Cortez Police Department on Sunday announced the arrests of three additional suspects in connection with September’s shooting near Empire Street, bringing the total to five arrests.
Demetrius Perscillano Todd Adams, 18, was taken into custody Saturday, Dec. 16, at 5 p.m. at Walmart. Adams was arrested on suspicion of tampering with a witness, Zane Killsinsight, according to police.
According to the police department on Thursday, Adams was released on surety bond on Monday, and will appear on court on Jan. 11 at 1 p.m. for his return filing and appearance on bond.
Delsin Gage Freeman, 18, was taken into custody by Bureau of Indian Affairs in Towaoc on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 1:30 a.m. He had recently posted on his Facebook page that he had moved to San Antonio, Texas. A 17-year-old also was arrested in the same location as Freeman, but the teenager’s name was not disclosed by police because of the person’s age.
Another suspect, also 17 years old, is still at large.
As of Tuesday morning, court appearances haven’t been announced for Freeman or Adams.
Both Killsinsight and Trinadie Lopez, two other suspects arrested in connection with the shooting, have appeared in court multiple times.
Chief Judge Todd Plewe of the 22nd Judicial District, dismissed charges against Killsinsight, 18, on Dec. 13.
On Wednesday, Killsinsight told The Journal that he was arrested for “being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
According to Killsinsight, on the evening of the shooting, he was heading home from work, passing through the area of Empire and Market streets when the shooting took place.
“I drove past my sister's car which was stopped at a three-way, so I thought to check on her because she was with my niece. She was all right, but she was just sitting there, and I was like, ‘I wonder what's going on,’ because it was at a three-way, and then come to find out a shooting just happened,” Killsinsight said.
After leaving with his sister, Killsinsight said he drove to Farmington for dinner before returning to Cortez. Once in Cortez, he was arrested by police for suspected involvement in the shooting.
In an interview Wednesday with The Journal, Killsinsight said that he knew the suspects in the shooting, but had not “hung out” with them in a few months.
“They used to be my friends anyway,” he said. “Around the middle of August, beginning of September I stopped hanging around with them and just focused more on work.”
Killsinsight also talked about how the events of the past few months have already affected his life.
“It’s been a stressful process,” he said. “I was always known back then for like, let's say if someone needed something around me like on the south side of town, they would know me and they would just come to help. I would just go to help. And now after this, everybody looks at me different, especially with my last name.”
On Sept. 15, a shooting near Empire and Market streets, seriously injured 18-year-old Josilyn Mark. Police have been seeking those in connection with the shooting since it occurred.
Lopez will appear for preliminary hearing on Jan. 5 at 1:30 p.m.
In court Tuesday, Lopez’s attorney asked to push his preliminary hearing into the new year.
Killsinsight was arrested the night of the shooting, and Lopez turned himself into police on Oct. 20 after the warrant for his arrests was announced.
So far, five people have been arrested. They are:
- Zane Killsinsight, 18, arrested Sept. 15 in Cortez. Charges were dismissed Dec. 13.
- Trinadie Lopez, 19, on Oct. 20, turned himself in to police.
- Demetrius Adams, 18, on Dec. 16 at the Cortez Walmart.
- Delsin Freeman, 18, on Dec. 17 in Towaoc.
- Unnamed minor, 17, on Dec. 17 in Towaoc.
