A man has been sentenced to five years in Colorado’s juvenile offender system for his role in the 2023 Flagstaff Road shooting.

Josue Esai Hernandez Gonzalez, 19, pleaded guilty in August to attempted second-degree murder. All other counts were dismissed.

He was sentenced to five years in the young offender system, suspended for 15 years if he fails to comply. He received 343 days of credit for time served.

Hernandez-Gonzalez was a minor at the time of the incident, so his booking photo has not been released. The District Attorney’s Office charged Hernandez-Gonzalez as an adult due to the “premeditated nature of the shooting and the people shot,” according to the release.

During Friday morning’s sentencing hearing, Deputy District Attorney Carlos Rueda said Hernandez-Gonzalez was extremely fortunate that no one died in the incident. Rueda added that the plea agreement was drafted in recognition of Hernandez-Gonzalez’s age and the fact that the shooter was his brother.

“If he hadn’t helped his brother with the shooting, the shooting wouldn’t have existed,” Rueda said.

Rueda explained that one of the victims lost his scholarship to play basketball in college. The victim’s father added that he had dreamed that his son would also follow the family tradition of serving in the military, but that would no longer be possible.

“My son has lost so much in his life to this person, and I know this person will have to pay for it for the rest of his life,” Dave Gomez said. “I want people to understand that what he did was despicable.”

Hernandez Gonzalez said she understands that she caused a lot of harm and made very poor choices.

“I would like to apologize to the victims, their families and the community,” Hernandez-Gonzalez said. “I’m still learning from my mistakes. I believe God will forgive me. And when the time comes to get out, I’m still learning from my mistakes and working on myself.” I just want to apologize to the victims and their families.”

Boulder District Judge Dea Lindsey told Hernandez-Gonzalez there was plenty of opportunity to change his mind and that he was extremely lucky no one was killed.

“Mr. Hernandez, I said this once today, when you’re this young and brown, by the fact that you’re a brown man, this is intentional,” Lindsey said.

she added later. “What I want you to think about is that you have a bigger burden. And that’s what I mean, you have to, you have to try harder, you have to try harder. Otherwise, this is not the end of your criminal situation.”

Lindsey said she believes people are not the result of the worst thing they’ve ever done.

“There are people out there who care about you and want to see you succeed, but I don’t see that every day,” Lindsey said. “My expectation is that you will be a great person.”

The defendant’s brother and co-defendant, Japhet Hernandez Gonzalez, 23, entered a plea deal in October in which he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted second-degree murder, according to court records. All other counts, including seven counts of attempted first-degree murder, were dismissed. He is still awaiting sentencing on Dec. 17.

According to the announcement, on May 12, 2023, a group of young people left a graduation party in a Cadillac Escalade and headed to Flagstaff Mountain. The Escalade crashed in Flagstaff and is no longer drivable. In the second car, Japhet Hernandez Gonzalez arrived to help and then got into an argument with the driver of the Escalade.

Japhet Hernandez-Gonzalez drove away, got a gun and returned to the mountain with his brother. By then, other people had arrived to help the people in the Escalade, according to the release.

Josué Hernández González overtook the group twice, slowing him down the third time. Japhet Hernandez Gonzalez fired several shots into the group as he passed, killing the Escalade driver and another victim. Both victims survived with injuries, according to the release, but the indictment states one victim suffered serious injuries.

Japhet Hernandez Gonzalez’s cell phone was tracked to be at the scene when the shooting occurred. Cell phone records also confirmed that they had met to exchange guns.