The Colorado Supreme Court has upheld the attempted murder conviction of Robert Ray, the man who shot two men at a music festival in Aurora almost 15 years ago and who now is on death row for killing a witness in that case.
Ray was found guilty in 2006 of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault of Elvin Bell and Javad Marshall-Fields at the music festival, which was held in July 2004. He was also found guilty of accessory to the murder of another man who was fatally shot that night — Gregory Vann.
Ray was sentenced to 108 years in the Department of Corrections for the music festival shooting. Ray later was sentenced to death for his role in the execution of Marshall-Fields, who was a witness in the trial, and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe. A second man, Sir Mario Owens, also was given the death penalty for his role in the witness-killing case.
The pair wanted to ensure that Marshall-Fields did not testify at the trial, the Arapahoe District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. They are two of the three men on Colorado’s death row.
Ray’s attorneys had appealed the attempted-murder conviction. They also are appealing the death sentence.
Vann and Marshall-Fields had organized the festival in July 2004 at Lowry Park, and Marshall-Fields had confronted Ray that evening about his behavior, the release said. Ray’s friend, Owens, then got involved.
Owens fatally shot Vann and then fled as Marshall-Fields and Bell chased him. Marshall-Fields and Bell were shot but survived, the release said.
Marshall-Fields is the son of state Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora.
“This Supreme Court ruling affirms what the jury knew 12 1/2 years ago: Ray shot Javad and Elvin that night in Lowry Park. The Court of Appeals ruled Ray got a fair trial, and now so has the highest court in Colorado,” District Attorney George Brauchler said in the release. “The appellate system moves slowly, but it moves towards justice.”
Brauchler credited Sen. Fields “for her patience and steadfast resolve to see the process through to the end.”
“I raised my son to have the values that made him want to participate in the criminal justice system,” she said in the release. “He was doing what he knew was right, and I encouraged him in that. While I wish every day that he was still with me, I am proud of the example he set for others who are asked to testify to bring violent criminals to justice.”
Sen. Fields has cited her own experience with the case in her support of the death penalty, a topic of discussion at the Colorado Legislature this year as she broke with Democrats in an attempt to abolish capital punishment.
