A jury in Jefferson County Court Wednesday found Jeremy Alan Smith not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the 2023 shooting death of Adam Michael Fresquez.
During the weeklong trial and in the 21 months since the shooting at a car-charging station in Edgewater, Smith and his attorneys maintained that the 40-year-old shot and killed Fresquez in self-defense after a road rage incident in May 2023.
Witnesses testified that they saw the two men cut each other off in their respective vehicles as they headed north towards a car charging station in Edgewater. After the two men pulled into their respective spaces, Fresquez was seen getting out of his silver Tesla and going to Smith’s car.
Defense attorneys argued that Smith, who worked as an Uber driver, had intended to charge his red Tesla rental before returning it while Fresquez’s purpose was to fight Smith in a drug-fueled rage. Smith’s attorneys noted at the beginning of the trial that an autopsy report found cocaine and fentanyl in Fresquez’s system at the time of the incident.
Fresquez’s mother, Lena Fresquez Mendez, said before the trial that her son didn’t deserve to die even though drugs were in his system.
“Does every person who has drugs in their system? 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,” Fresquez Mendez said. “I don't know that there was ever a toxicology ran on Jeremy. I don't know. I know that they told me Adam didn't have any rights because he's no longer here. So I've always struggled with how do we know that Jeremy didn't have anything in his system at that time?”
Witnesses said they saw Fresquez banging on Smith’s car window. Smith and his attorneys claim that Fresquez pulled out a gun and threatened him with it. Prosecutors argued that Fresquez never pulled out a gun after an investigation discovered his hands empty and the weapon in his pants. A second firearm was found wrapped in a sweatshirt inside Fresquez’s car.
“Well, if you believe what Mr. Smith had to tell you, Mr. Fresquez has the gun in his face. He pulls the gun and then Mr. Fresquez puts it down, racks the slide and puts it away. No way. No way. Not human behavior," prosecutor Jennifer Rhoads told the jury during Wednesday's closing arguments. “If he pulled the gun on Mr. Fresquez and Mr. Fresquez had his gun in his face, he would've shot him. That's not what happened here.”
Smith maced Fresquez and shot him twice in the back. Smith’s attorneys said Smith could’ve reacted differently but had to figure out how to survive.
“We don't all react the best way when we encounter difficult people, but what that shouldn't mean is that somebody approaches your car with a gun when all you wanted to do was charge your car and do your job,” said defense attorney Nate Smith.
The prosecution said Smith already neutralized Fresquez with mace and didn’t need to shoot him. They described Smith’s actions as reckless in killing the 33-year-old.
“In that moment that Mr. Smith shot Adam, Adam did not pose an imminent threat. He was not about to use imminent force or unlawful physical force against Mr. Smith,” prosecutor Stephen Scheffel said. “He reasonably believed a lesser degree of force was inadequate. We know that this is not the case because he maced him and the mace worked. Adam stepped away, and the mace worked. He used a lesser degree of force to neutralize the situation and then chose to shoot him in the back twice.”
Smith was arrested and charged seven months after the violent confrontation occurred.
Following the verdict, the Denver Justice Project, who have supported the Fresquez family since June 2023, said the family is devastated by the verdict
In a released statement, the advocacy group acknowledged the district attorney’s efforts in holding Smith accountable. But, they believe justice wasn’t served for Fresquez. They have maintained that the outcome would’ve been different if Fresquez was white.
“We firmly believe that if the roles in this case had been reversed, Adam Fresquez would have been arrested immediately and charged with first-degree murder. Instead, Jeremy Smith was granted an extraordinary level of leniency that is almost never afforded to people of color, people like Adam,” the Denver Justice Project said in a statement. “This case is yet another example of racial bias in the application of self-defense laws, where white defendants are far more likely to be justified, especially when the victim is a person of color. The system grants them the benefit of the doubt — a clear message about whose lives are valued and whose are not.”
Fresquez left behind a wife and two children.
