Mya Pena Identified As 17-Year-Old Victim In Murder-Suicide
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- The El Paso County Coroner has positively identified the victim in Tuesday's murder-suicide as Mya Pena. Investigators say Pena, 17, was killed by Samuel Hoffman after she left school on Tuesday afternoon.
The cause of Pena's death has not been determined by the coroner. That process will take four to six weeks.
The incident began in Douglas County on Tuesday afternoon when Pena left school at Mile High Academy in Highlands Ranch. She was reported missing by her family shortly after.
As of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, seven law enforcement agencies, including the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, Littleton Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, and the Colorado State Patrol, along the Front Range from the Denver metro area to Colorado Springs were attempting to locate the two teenagers.
"About 3:15, the victim left school... got into the car with the suspect, drove across the parking lot and into another parking lot, and between 3:15 and 3:30, the suspect murdered the teen," said Spurlock in a news conference on Wednesday.
Investigators believe she was killed in the parking lot adjacent to the school's parking lot but not on school property.
Officers believed they found the vehicle they were searching for about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday near Interstate 25 near the Ray Nixon exit in Fountain. Fountain is located about 15 miles south of Colorado Springs.
When officers with the Fountain Police Department and the Colorado State Patrol approached the vehicle, they heard a single gunshot from the vehicle. Investigators believe Hoffman died of a self-inflicted gunshot moments after officers made contact with him.
The bodies of Pena, of Littleton, and Hoffman of Centennial, were found inside the vehicle near the I-25 exit for Fountain. Pena's body was found in the back seat.
RELATED: Classmates Remember Mya Pena As A Friend To Everyone
