(May 17, 2024) – The Aurora Police Department Major Crime Homicide Unit has arrested an Aurora man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred in May 2022 in northwest Aurora.
Lu Reh, 22, of Aurora, was charged this week with one count each of first-degree murder after deliberation and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. The charges stem from a fatal shooting that occurred about 3:45 p.m. May 30, 2022, near the intersection of East 16th Avenue and Alton Street.
The investigation began about 4:15 p.m. that day when Denver Police Department officers responded to a report of a man lying in an alley between the 1600 blocks of Willow and Xanthia streets. The victim, later identified as 44-year-old Aurora resident Ricardo Ryans, had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
About 6:30 p.m., Denver officers received a 911 call about a black 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan parked near the intersection of East 14th Avenue and Niagara Street. When officers responded, they noticed multiple bullet holes in the vehicle and blood in the front passenger seat. Witnesses told officers they saw a woman exit the vehicle and enter a nearby motel.
Denver officers responded to the motel and located the woman, who said she was driving the vehicle at the time of the shooting. The woman told investigators she picked up Ryans in Aurora to take him to a local business to run an errand.
As they were driving away from the business, they encountered a white sedan driving slowly with its hazard lights on near East 16th Avenue and Alton Street. The woman attempted to drive around the sedan when an unknown man appeared and fired multiple rounds into the passenger side of the Tiguan.
The woman told investigators she sped from the scene, stopping in the alley between Willow and Xanthia streets to check on Ryans. Ryans exited the Tiguan and collapsed on the ground. The woman then drove to the motel where she was staying, parking the vehicle about two blocks away at East 14th Avenue and Niagara Street.
Denver homicide detectives contacted the Aurora Police Department’s Major Crime Homicide Unit about a possible homicide scene at East 16th Avenue and Alton Street. Investigators responded to the intersection and located the scene of the shooting. Several 9mm shell casings were recovered.
Aurora homicide detectives continued to investigate the case for almost two years, ultimately identifying Reh as the suspect through witness statements and forensic and ballistic evidence. Reh was already in custody at the Denver County Jail on an unrelated 2022 Denver homicide when on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, a district court judge signed off on an Aurora Police Department warrant for his arrest.
Joe Moylan
Public Information Officer
720.432.5095
AP22-21840