Beacon Blog

Justice will be served!!! My brother did not deserve to die the way those two guys murdered them. They were taking from us, their family, their daughter and unborn son. It is very sad to live a life without a father, brother or son. Our family has grieved over the deaths of my brothers for 14 long years. My mother my now live a normal life again!!

I just read the comment by dayce montoya. I hope your family finds some peace with these arrests.
For so long, it has been difficult to come up with suspects because of the lack of cooperation from witnesses. Many times they are intimidated and threatened when they choose to testify for the prosecution. I recall a Sugar Grove woman who was the mother of someone who I believe was going to testify--being slaughtered in her home. I don't recall the exact details--but I believe it was a strong deterrent to witness cooperation. It was truly a horrifying incident.
Nothing can bring your sweet brother back, but hopefully you can rest easier, knowing some thugs are off the street, and your brother's life has been given more value, with the relentless pursuit of the one who snuffed his life out.
Bless you.

I feel sorry for all the families that have lost someone in their lives. I to have lost loved ones. But with the stuff that is happening now, I have lost again. I am now without MY husband and MY children are without their father. Our lives are up in the air also. This has a domino effect on our entire family. My husband has left that life alone for many years. We are trying to teach our children not to become a victim of that life. And to give our children something neither one of us ever had, a family with both parents present and loving. My prayers are with the families of the victims. I hope the police do their jobs and find the true killers.

Finally, justice has prevailed! The innocent families that have lived through such a nigthmare and been effected emotionally can some how rest assured. It will not bring back our loved ones lost to such cowardly acts commited by punks who call themselves men but we can finally say that sooner or later you will get caught up! May God have mercy on your souls. You reap what you sow! No mercy for what you have done. You deserve what you get.

i was born and raised in Aurora and it seems that nothing has changed. i now live in Los Angeles, CA

This Corral man who gave up information and listed as a Snitch! Look at what the justice system is showing us! a white boy who gave or maybe even made it up to save his own neck!he is getting out in 2015. while he puts latin & african american men out there. we have allowed the judicial system to cause separation once again and place some possily innocent men in jail.

Wasn't Corral supposed to get 25 to life for all of the drugs he was putting on our town of Aurora?? yet the justice dept stands behind a coward. who knows what he was told to say and all that was made up.

i know some of these people that were arrested and find it hard to believe they are all murderers after 20 years.i can only speak on what i know about the character of the ones that i know. this is Unreal! these men have families too! they have changed their lives and living respectable lives! and one man changed everyones world! i hope and pray Justice is served for all of the right reasons and not what the Corral ( drug trafficker ) says. we may as well hang all of them now and go back to the slavery days.

i do sympathize with the victims and their families. were they gang members too? how were they living?? were they drug dealers and gang members - it is so easy to claim. for the Glory of it all?? this is a sad day in Aurora

I was born and raised in Aurora and while growing up, I always felt a sense of pride and love for my town. No one could ever, say anything negative without hearing my mouth. But in 1995, my opinion started to change. My brother was one of the victims, when Larry Wesby (ELBOW) was murdered. He and Larry were best friends and mostly inseperable. Larry was also like a member of our family and was loved and respected by many. The person or person's who took his life not only took his mother's only child, he took my brother's life with him. He told me that the night he was shot, he saw death. He has never fully recovered from his death and the survivors guilt is overwhelming. This person, that did this, has affected not only the victims of the shooting, but the children of them and their children to come. The emotional toll that this type of grief takes on a person makes them unable to give themselves completely to anyone including their own children. Basically, this capture has been a long time coming. I AM SO PROUD OF ALL THE OFFICERS WHO CARED ENOUGH NOT TO GIVE UP. I have seen since 1995 at least 20 of my friends, family and classmates die from this craziness. To name a few, Hog (Corey Pryor), CJ ( Calvin Pryor) Demetrius Washington, Corey Lesure, TOPP (Mario Stewart), Nigorski, Marcus Stewart, Squirrel ( Tony Tenniel), K-D, Louis Donatlyn & MANY MORE. This has caused me & almost everyone associated with our family to have very harsh feelings towards the APD & the justice system. This happened when I had just turned 16 and I am now 27. I have been living with such anger and hatred all these years and to open the paper and see that someone has been named and caught, it's overwhelming. It brings tears to my eyes just ot write this. I have watched my brother deal with this whole situation and watched him spiral into depression behind not only this murder, but that 20 to follow. The friends that we grew up with and loved. The friends we went to elementary school with and played with on a regular basis. WHY? When I received news that someone was picked up, I felt such an energy come over me. I feel like the victims will finally rest in peace. I could literally see Elbow's face in my head when i closed my eyes, smiling, like, "yea".

I don't want to make it seem like only the murder victims and families are only effected by this tragedy. My heart goes out to all the families that are effected in this. Even Michael Diaz and Jimmy Torres's mother. I am a mother too and I can not imagine the pain they much feel knowing that if convicted they will never have their boys back. No more Christmas mornings or mother's day suprises. No more, "mom, can I hold $20." My heart breaks for the families that will no longer have the blessings of a father, brother, cousin, son or a friend. The question that remains is WHY? Why would you do something that would ruin so many people's lives, including the people closest to you. I have not forgiven the people who have changed our lives. But, I will, with time. I will also pray for the families that they left behind. My prayers are with all the mother's that are now left to raise the children that the accused left behind, You will be ok, and so will your children. I know that right know you can't help but to love the one your with, but in time, when you watch your children grow and struggle with life and watch them love and lose loved ones, you will think about what their life would have been if they were raised by a murderer. NOW, dont misunderstand, I am a firm believer in innocent until proven guilty. And if they have the wrong person, I hope they will be released asap. I would never want some innocent person in jail if they didn't do it. I want the right person convicted. That is the only way to find true closer. I can go on and on but one thing that I want to leave everyone involved in this whole situation with, and that includes the alleged murderer's, their families and the victims friends and families, is that GOD WILL NEVER GIVE US MORE THAN WE CAN HANDLE AND IN SITUATIONS LIKE THIS, WE MUST TRUST AND BELEIVE THAT HE WILL MAKE IT ALL RIGHT.

REPLY FROM MIKE CETERA:

Point of clarification -- Juan Corral is Hispanic. And we also don't know for certain that he is involved in this case. We do know for sure, however, that he has provided information to the feds in the past.

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Reading Mrs. Luciano's comments was truly an eye opener of how many people become victims and are held in bondage when their lives are somehow intertwined with a gangbanger's. We must all remember that there is much suffering now for innocent friends and family of those arrested. Probably in many cases, those arrested have since become productive, contributing members of society. Perhaps they have chosen to walk away from their former lives of youthful ignorance. Perhaps the youth who have been inspired by these scum will now see there is no glory in murder, rather a life of guilt and remorse and now, a life in prison, devoid of most creature comforts, when accountability comes into play.
I would suggest that anyone thinking it is cool to lead a gangbanger life to think again. Your past sometimes comes back to bite you big time. And for Mrs. Luciano and others, it is devastating when that happens.

To the ones who killed my boy, I just want to say that, I asked god to let me feel my son's death and I did, no one should receive a death like that, there are no words to ever heal me, my heart aches, and aches and aches forever for my boy that somebody's took from me.

Everybody talks about the family of the victims and how they grieve, but aren't the family of the people aressted grieving too. They have familys too. Also i agree whith what was said earlier by lou. Not all of the people killed where innocent by standers. Does not make it right but I don't think they should be put on a pedastel. I also am ashamed that Aurora can spend a lot of time and money on these murders and not on trying to prevent the problems. They let education lack in this city They give our kids DARE and say well that is enough. It is a good program to teach about drugs and gang awareness. But what about the Education as a way out. Slowly this city lets the Education slip away. I too grew up in Aurora, I use to think it was a good place to raise my kids. But this city no longer cares about its children. Maybe it never did. So with this I close My GOD Bless and Take care of all the families involved.

WHEN YOU PURCHASE A HOME AND HAVE LIVED IN IT FOR 20 YEARS, ARE YOU STILL NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IT? THESE COWARDS HAVE MURDERED IN THE PAST AND REGARDLESS OF HOW LONG IT'S BEEN, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS IN THE PAST. I LOOK FOR JUSTICE AND REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH TIME THEY GET, I AM HAPPY THEY ARE GONE. MAY THE AURORA POLICE DEPT. KNOW THAT THEY HAVE BROUGHT CLOSURE TO THE VICTIMS FAMILIES AND THAT THEY (APD) SHOULD BE PROUD OF WHAT THEY HAVE DONE. CONTINUE TO GET THE REST OF THE SCUM OFF THE STREET AND HIP HIP HOORAY FOR THE AURORA POLICE DEPT.

I was born and raised here in Aurora. Unfortunately, Aurora is a small town and everyone knows everyone. There is alot of sadness in this day for all of the Mothers who lost sons and daughters and my prayers are with them and their families. I also know what it is like to be on the other side and unfortunately I feel sorry for these men's parents and mainly there children. We all had choices to make some good and some bad. I do not however feel sorry for their actions. One of the men listed killed my cousin in 2005. It was a very sad time for my whole family. I will never forget the cowardly act that those men committed. It all boils down to the parents and society. Parents need to be aware of what is going on with their children or else they ended up being everyone's problem. I grew up with most of the guys listed here both victims and murderers. I changed my life around after learning from my mistakes. I had children born into the same situation. I don't regret my children I regret my choices, Aurora never had much too offer as far as a way out. I eventually left and see that not much has changed. As for Juan Corral I grew up with him. I applaud what he has done not because he is a coward or trying to find a way out but because he has put some sense of comfort into all of the victims families that their child's murder will now have to pay for their crime and all of the lives lost. As for the APD I am glad that this has finally come to a conclusion but as I said I grew up on these streets and I know that more could have been done for these men who were youth at the time to get out and stay out.

I want to comment on the families of those charged. MURDER IS MURDER NO MATTER WHETHER IT WAS YESTERDAY OR 18 years ago. It doesn't matter that these now men once cowards have changed their lives around. They need to pay for the choices they made once upon a time. Back in the days they felt those choices were the most important thing in the world and it makes me happy knowing that they're now finally feeling the regret (if that's possible) They sad part is that if they are able to feel regret it would only be because they have families now and not because they took ours then. I do feel sorry for the wives, mothers, childeren, grandchildren and so on but if my loved one committed a murder I would not sit behind a wall and claim their innocence when in my heart I knew they were guilty. It's easy to say that they're being falsly charged but in a lot of these cases the truth has ran the streets for many many years. It wasn't until last week that the truth of the streets and the APD came together.

RIP BROTHERS- MAURO SALGADO,LUKE ZAMORA,CARLOS LAMAS,DONAVAN BIGGER,CARLOS LOPEZ,JOSE RAMOS,BRIAN LAMBERT. LOVE,RESPECT,AND HONOR. YOU ALL PAID THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE.

First and foremost I would like to extend my condolences to the families of the victims and the accusers. I was born and raised in Aurora. So with that behind us lets get to the root of the problem. We are put against each other when I say we I mean blacks and hispanics. We are given no hope or sense of pride. This falls on the shoulders of our education system. We aren't encouraged to go to college or encouraged to participate in sports. The sad thing about this whole ordeal is that the majority of the victims and accusers are from DISTRICT 131!!! We on the east side are simply treated like phesants for the lack of a better word. The city can act like they are blind to this but we all have some gang ties or know gang members. That is inevitable growing up in Aurora!!! Whether you know them from school or they are family members. We aren't given the options that the rest are given. The majority of the men charged and murdered dealt in that life because there only other choice is to get a factory job paying 8.00 an hour!! Now don't get me wrong if you want something bad enough you get up and work for it. It is just ten times harder to work for something you didn't even know existed!! I personally grew up with the some of the men murdered and accused. Genuinely good people that didn't have the heart to kill a fly until there backs were against the wall. I personally lost my best friend to the senseless streets of Aurora. At that point I realized that there was no way to live in Aurora and escape the garbage. My best friend wasn't a gang member he was just of the wrong nationality in the wrong area. I wrote all this to say that we have to look past us because we aren't solely responsible for the nonsense. That would be like the citizens of Iraq blaming each other for being at war. Aurora is a war zone and it is out of our hands to determine who will live and die. RIP-SQUIRREL, FRESH, LIL BO, TWIN, CHA CHA, LUKE ZAMORA, FERNANDO JAIMES, ERIC JOHNSON, RASHOD "TURTLE" WALDROP, RAYMOND "ROCKY" TURNAGE!!!!

I don't think that believeing a man that fighting to get out of jail because his whole family was dealing drugs is credible. Is our justice system failing both murder victims and my family both or what? These families are going to be put threw alot due to false testimony. My family is going to fight till or death for my brother, he is not a murderer but a victim himself along with his wife and kids. All this does is teach our kids to be scared of the police and that the will take innocent people to jail.........You got caught orko take what you deserve....... we love you my brother

I have children with one of the men that were charged with murder.
What saddens me is all the children, but that doesn't mean that these men should not pay for what they have done. A majority of these guys same mentality they don't work, deal drugs, carry guns, steal, lie, cheat, and beat on their girlfriends. Is this the life that you want for your children? Yeah I admit that I have made poor judgements and I pay for that every time I look into my childrens eyes, but it's never to late to want a better life for your children's sake. Children don't know any better they only know what we as parents teach them.

Its far too often that society choses to accuse and make men guilty until proven innocent. Is this the way our judicial system really intended? Although my deepest condolences go out to the victims of these senseless crimes I also feel as though the aurora police department has filled them (as well as the people of aurora) with a false sense of security in the arrest of these men.

How is it so easy for them to make this into a victory so soon? Why would they tell these families, "we have caught the murderers?" what if some of these men go to trial and are found NOT guilty? Then what? Will their investigations continue? It all seems a little too strange to me. Those that know what's really going on in the streets would know that these men are being held because there are criminals sitting behind bars pleeing for less charges, snitching on those that are free, only so that they can walk the streets again. This is obvious, why all latin kings?

Are latin kings the only gang problem we have faced in aurora? and what about all the other killings that have happened amongst other groups and the families that face the death of loved ones in more recent years if not in recent months? If the aurora police department really did their job and didn't rely soley on the help of snitches then perhaps some of these crimes would be solved in a more timely manner.

It is hard for me to judge these men, particularly before they have been heard before the court and all the evidence has been given. Even at that point, it is not my job to judge another man, for only God can look and measure your wrongs. Instead I will pray that God have mercy and that these men rely on him alone to lead their way. Pray for the families of both victims and accused, that they are bleesed with strength, peace and the courage to move on from this.

I have lived in Aurora all my life. I have seen gang violence as far back as I can remember. My brother was murdered in August of 1996. (R.I.P Juan A. Delgado) my family has not and will never recover from our loss. The men that murdered my brother are out free. I don't think that is classified as justice! My heart goes out to all the families who have lost a loved one because I know first hand how a families life can be changed with gang violence. On the flip side of that some of the accused are friends that grew up in the neighborhood. The reality is that there are two sides and both sides are grieving. I am not justifying the murderers actions in any way. Don't put blame on the whole family but on the individuals themselves. R.I.P JUAN A. DELGADO, CESAR MONTALVO, WILLIE ARCE, DONALD GOODMAN & ALL THE OTHERS WHO WE HAVE LOST TO GANG VIOLENCE. GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN!