A jury has convicted 29-year-old Nelson Francisco Miranda-Rivas of murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery and several other felony charges following a four-week trial tied to a violent crime spree across Aurora in February 2023. The case centered on a fatal shooting outside Pitchers Sports Bar that left one man dead and another wounded, along with gunfire that struck a nearby home.
A Deadly Night Outside Pitchers Sports Bar
According to the Aurora Police Dept
, Miranda-Rivas was linked to three separate shootings that occurred during February 2023 in Aurora, and jurors ultimately found him guilty of murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery and multiple other felony charges. The verdict and charges were detailed in the release shared by police. One of those shootings unfolded outside Pitchers Sports Bar, located at 1670 South Chambers Road near East Mexico Drive.
The venue's listed address
is 1670 South Chambers Road near East Mexico Drive.
The man killed in that shooting was identified by the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office as 30-year-old Joaquin Eliseo Orellana Orellana, who died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to 9News Denver. Orellana Orellana was shot while sitting in a parked car outside the bar. A second man sitting alongside him in that vehicle was also shot and suffered life-threatening injuries, the outlet reported. Jurors also returned an attempted murder conviction against Miranda-Rivas.
Gunfire Also Hit a Nearby Townhouse
The violence in February 2023 wasn't confined to the bar's parking lot. Aurora Police also investigated a second connected shooting scene in the 1600 block of South Idalia Circle, where gunfire struck a townhouse window without causing injuries, the station's report noted. Police confirmed bullets had penetrated the unoccupied home, underscoring how the crime spree touched multiple locations across the city.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 71% of all homicide deaths in Colorado in 2023 involved firearms, and 30% of those firearm deaths were among males aged 15–24. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that Colorado experienced 77 mass shootings from 2014 to 2023, resulting in 103 deaths and 299 injuries.
During the initial investigation, Metro Denver Crime Stoppers offered a reward of up to $2,000 for anonymous tips as police worked to identify a suspect, per the same account. Anonymous tipsters were assigned tracking codes to report leads.
A Denver Murder Case
A Denver case involved Miranda-Rivas and co-defendant Cesar Ramirez-Rivera in connection with the July 4, 2023 shooting death of 32-year-old motorcyclist Kyle Van Loozenoord on Interstate 70, according to 9News Denver. The outlet reported that 20 shots were fired at the highway scene.
Life Sentence Imposed
Miranda-Rivas's Arapahoe County case, tried in District Court as Case No. 2023CR2084, proceeded through the four-week jury trial before the guilty verdict, according to records from the Colorado Judicial Branch. The 18th Judicial District was reorganized to exclusively handle Arapahoe County cases beginning in 2025, after state lawmakers split off Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties into the newly created 23rd Judicial District, according to Sentinel Colorado.
Miranda-Rivas was sentenced on December 2, 2025, to life imprisonment with parole possible after 22 years.
