AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting from May 2022 has been arrested by police.
Lu Reh, 22, was charged this week with one count each of first-degree murder after deliberation and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. The charges stem from a fatal shooting that occurred about 3:45 p.m. May 30, 2022, near the intersection of E. 16th Ave. and Alton St., according to the Aurora Police Department.
The investigation into Reh began at about 4:15 p.m. that day when when Denver Police Department officers responded to a report of a man lying in an alley between the 1600 blocks of Willow and Xanthia streets. The victim, later identified as 44-year-old Aurora resident Ricardo Ryans, had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced deceased at the scene, a news release states.
About two hours later, at about 6:30 p.m., Denver police received a 911 call about a black 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan parked near the intersection of E. 14th Ave. and Niagara St. When officers responded, they noticed “multiple bullet holes in the vehicle and blood in the front passenger seat,” according to the news release. Witnesses told officers they saw a woman exit the vehicle and enter a nearby motel.
The woman was found by police inside the motel and she told them she picked up Ryans in Aurora to take to a local business to run an errand before the shooting occurred.
She told investigators that as they were driving away from the business, they came upon a white sedan driving slowly with its hazard lights on near E. 16 Ave. and Alton St. The woman attempted to drive around the sedan when “an unknown man appeared and fire multiple rounds into the passenger side of the Tiguan,” the release states.
The woman then sped away from the scene and stopped in the alley between Willow and Xanthia streets to check on Ryans, who had exited the Tiguan and collapsed on the ground. The woman then reportedly drove to the motel where she was staying, parking the vehicle about two blocks away at East 14th Avenue and Niagara Street, according to police.
Denver homicide detectives got in touch with Aurora’s Major Crime Homicide Unit about a possible homicide scene at E. 16th Ave. and Alton St., where investigators found several 9mm shell casings.
After investigating the case for almost two years, Aurora investigators ultimately identified Reh as the suspect through witness statements and forensic and ballistic evidence. Reh was already in custody at the Denver County jail in connection with the 2022 homicide of Ma Kaing when a district court judge signed off on an Aurora Police Department warrant for his arrest.
