(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is opening its Cold Case Files in hopes of closing some of them for good. FOX21 Morning News Anchor Abbie Burke is highlighting several cases with known suspects that police have been unable to locate.
On June 20, 2010, shots rang out at the Camelot Apartments near Airport Road and South Murray Boulevard at around 1 a.m.
It was early Sunday morning and police were told there was a large fight between two groups of people when one man pulled out a gun and fired it into the air. Witnesses told police the shooter then chased 17-year-old Isaiah Goss through the complex parking lot and shot him in the chest.
“When they got there, they found an individual on the ground with a gunshot wound,” said Sergeant Marcus Lehmkuhl.
Goss’ mother said he had gone to visit a friend and to this day she still doesn’t know what happened.
“Someone called me and said that he was in the hospital. He had been shot,” said Sabrina Brinson, Goss’ mother.
Her son would die the next day.
“He was the only one that was shot,” said Lehmkuhl.
According to witnesses, the shooter ran from the scene, and according to CSPD, he’s been on the run ever since.
“During the course of the investigation, we identified a suspect, and we ended up getting an arrest warrant issued for that individual,” said Lehmkuhl.
That individual was identified as Leonel Hernandez, who was also 17 years old at the time.
“We don’t know him, we don’t know his family,” said Brinson.
Police obtained a warrant for the charge of First Degree Murder, but before they could arrest Hernandez he disappeared.
“We don’t know where he’s at. We’ve been trying to find him since this incident, since he was identified as a suspect,” said Lehmkuhl. “We know he still has ties to the area.”
“We would like for him to be arrested,” said Brinson. “That would definitely help me get closure.”
At the time Hernandez was known to go by the alias “Suspect.”
“Either it’s a street name or somebody gave you an alias, or you used that name in the past with law enforcement or other people. So once we identify the alias, that’s what we go by,” said Lehmkuhl.
The last time “Suspect” was spotted was in 2011, near the intersection of Platte Avenue and Murray Boulevard, not far from the scene of the crime.
“I believe he still has friends here,” said Lehmkuhl.
Hernandez was described as being 5’9″ tall, about 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, but this description may no longer be fitting as today Hernandez would be 30.
“Any information helps,” said Lehmkuhl. “Any contacts, knowing people that might know where he’s at. I saw him over here, over there. Just anything that would give us an idea of where he would be at that we can start looking.”
“It’s just so weird, with so much technology these days, so many ways of contacting people, it’s just so hard to believe that he just disappeared off the face of the earth,” said Brinson.
Lehmkuhl said he wants to get justice for Goss and bring some sense of closure to his family.
“Once he’s found we can bring him into the court system and start that process,” said Lehmkuhl.
“That’s what I’m hoping for. Before I pass, leave this world, I hope I’ll be able to see this person in the courthouse, in jail,” said Brinson.
Brinson said there’s not a day that goes by that she doesn’t think of her son.
“I miss his smile. I miss talking to him, I miss doing things with him,” she said. “He’s not here physically, but spiritually, he’s all around us.”
Goss was the youngest of five and leaves behind a brother and three sisters.
“All of us got different opinions, but all of us are taking it hard,” said Brinson. “We’ve always been a close-knit family. He’s with us basically every day, he’s in our hearts. But it was devastating.”
They all want to make sure Goss is not forgotten.
“Because he’s a part of us,” said Brinson. “He will never, never, ever be forgotten. When we go on trips, we take a part of him wherever we go. A lot of things are named after him. We celebrate a lot of things. Our goals, our dreams are a part of his goals and dreams.”
Brinson said she’s forgiven her son’s killer.
“I have to,” she said. “Because God has forgiven me for all things. I have to forgive because I want to see my son again, and I believe that he’s in heaven and one day I’ll feel him again.”
But Brinson still wants justice and the answer to one haunting question.
“I would like to know why,” she said. “I would like for him to be arrested and just tell us why. I don’t know what happened.”
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact CSPD at (719) 444-7000. Tips can also be made anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (719) 634-STOP.
