Defense attorneys say Jeremy Alan Smith was trying to save his own life during a fatal confrontation with Adam Michael Fresquez at an Edgewater Tesla charging station in 2023.
The jury was seated and heard opening statements in Smith’s trial at Jefferson County Court Wednesday. The 40-year-old is facing second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Fresquez. Smith claimed self-defense after he said Fresquez pulled a gun on him in a confrontation stemming from road rage.
“Maced and then shot in the back twice. That's how Adam Fresquez lost his life On May 3, 2023,” Prosecuting attorney Jennifer Rhoades said in her opening statement. “He was maced and shot in the back twice, just weeks after his 33rd birthday.”
Attorneys mentioned in their statements that the incident began near 10th and Sheridan in Denver where traffic cameras picked up both vehicles. While both vehicles were traveling north, Smith’s red Tesla cut off Fresquez’s silver Tesla on their way to the Tesla charging station.
According to court documents, Fresquez arrived shortly before Smith to the station. That’s when Fresquez got out of his car. Both men possessed firearms at the time.
“[Smith] did see Mr. Fresquez doing what we describe as, like, 'pull-up your shirt — there's this firearm.' He believes he saw a kind of a holster. There was never a holster there,” Rhoades said in her opening statement. “It's more likely the butt of his gun. But, he sees him do that and he sees that Mr. Fresquez is maced and when he's feeling the effects of the mace, he's shot in the back.”
The defense said Smith was working as an Uber driver and had rented the red Tesla for that reason. He was charging the car at the station when he was confronted by Fresquez.
“Mr. Smith is paralyzed with fear. He has barely gotten his car in park and he looks out the window to see Adam Fresquez standing there pointing a gun in his face in shock, trying to figure out what to do,” said defense attorney Stephanie Seibold. “He was not at all prepared for this. And the first thing that he thinks to do in his panic is roll down the window. He is praying that he doesn't get shot and that maybe he can talk some reason into Mr. Fresquez, but when he rolls down the window, Mr. Fresquez begins beating on his car, pounding on it, screaming.
Seibold said Fresquez was in a drug-fueled rage at the time of the confrontation. Toxicology results from the autopsy report found cocaine and fentanyl in Fresquez’s blood at the time of his death. Investigators discovered small bags of cocaine and fentanyl pills in his pants.
“Jeremy Smith didn't know that it was fentanyl and cocaine that was fueling Adam Fresquez's rage,” Seibold said. “But, when Adam Fresquez pointed a gun in his face, racked the slide and threatened to put a bullet in his jaw, he took his word for it.”
After he maced and shot Fresquez, Smith contacted Edgewater Police from his home and told the officers that he shot a man. Following a several months of investigation, he was arrested at his home in Denver.
“Yes, there was the toxicology or the autopsy report showing that Adam did have drugs in his system. But even then, does Adam deserve to be pepper sprayed, shot twice in the back and the man to drive away?” said Mendez during a break in jury selection Tuesday. “Do they deserve to be killed and then the guy to turn around and say, this was self-defense? No, I don't believe so.”
The prosecution presented its first witnesses later in the afternoon. Deanna Stackhouse witnessed Smith cutting off Fresquez as she was leaving a Walgreens after filling a prescription for her granddaughter. Ashley Tauch and Cynthia O’Neil were having a business breakfast at a nearby restaurant at the time of the shooting.
West Metro Fire Rescue paramedic Josh Wuertz, who responded to the call, took the stand. He told the jury that when he cut open Fresquez’s clothes, he found a firearm in his pants, but no holster. Wuertz also said there was no weapon in Fresquez’s hand when he arrived on scene.
The prosecution will continue to present witnesses Thursday during the trial.
