A Jefferson County jury found a Denver man not guilty of criminal charges in the 2023 fatal road rage shooting at a Tesla supercharger station outside Edgewater Public Market.
Jeremy Smith was ordered released from custody Wednesday morning after the jury reached the not-guilty verdict following a six-day trial, according to a news release from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Smith had been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the May 3, 2023, death of Adam Fresquez, 33.
Fresquez, who was shot twice and sprayed with mace, died at a hospital shortly after the shooting.
The two had been involved in a road rage dispute and pulled into the Tesla charging station within seconds of each other on the morning of May 3, 2023. Both men drove Teslas.
After arriving at the charging station, Fresquez walked toward Smith’s Tesla. Video footage from nearby security cameras showed Fresquez stumbling about a minute after he approached Smith.
Smith pulled out of the parking lot but called 911 to report that he had maced and shot another person who had pulled a gun on him. He told police that he shot in self-defense.
Both men were armed, police said, but investigators reported that Fresquez’s gun was inside his clothes, near his groin, when he was found in the parking lot. Smith was charged in the case in December 2023.
Fresquez’s family held protests outside of the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office to demand prosecution, and community organizers called for an external investigation into the Edgewater Police Department’s handling of the case.
Fresquez was married and had two children.
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