"He was like a son to me:" Family friends of Northglenn shooting victim praise his character
Northglenn police responded to a disturbance at home late Saturday morning, where they found a 19-year-old man, who had been shot. He was taken to the hospital where he died.
A close family friend says that 19-year-old was a Cherry Creek graduate, Angel Escobar.
"He was like a son to me," Rose Smoak said. "My son loved him very much, they loved each other."
Smoak says Angel was best friends with her son Malik, who died last month, after taking a pill that may have been laced with fentanyl.
"Angel, he was deeply affected by this, and he's been grieving and instead of being met with love and comfort, he was met with violence," Smoak said.
Saturday, a friend called Smoak from the hospital and told her of Angel's passing.
"I just started screaming and I started making phone calls," Smoak said.
She spoke with Angel's mother, girlfriend and father in California as they discovered he was shot by his stepfather in their Northglenn home.
Records show he was booked into Adams County jail Saturday night and is being held on a $100,000 bond. The official cause and manner of Angel's death are pending a coroner's report.
"The whole family is in shock that somebody would do this," Smoak expressed.
Smoak is now fighting for justice by trying to bring Angel to California if his family wishes or offering her own burial plot in Denver.
"I offered the space next to Malik to the Escobar family," Smoak said. "He made my son a better person, he was a good person, he was a calm spirit."
Angel's mother expressed her love for her son saying, "My son is my world and I love him more than you can ever know."
She continued saying, "Angel, you are loved more than you can ever know," Smoak said, reading a message from Angel's family in California, "I will see you again. I will find you, and we will be together."
Smoak says she plans to attend the arraignment Monday and Angel's family will be coming from California.