By JUAN ESPINOSA
When Isaiah Vialpando was shot and killed in a senseless shooting 10 years ago this month, two decades of hopes and dreams of his parents, extended family, and high school sweetheart died with him.
In his 20 years of life, Isaiah had already shown his potential for excellence. He was a high school graduate who earned 32 college credits while still in high school. He was a serious college student, an accomplished mariachi, a loving, respectful son, and grandson. He was in a serious relationship with the girl of his dreams.
In their collective dreams, Isaiah graduated college, married the girl, became a parent, performed world wide with a mariachi band composed of former classmates and made Pueblo proud. He also became a music producer and helped other musicians record their music.
But, that was not to be. Instead his parents Robert and Melissa Cordova had to receive the inconceivable news, plan a funeral, bury their only son and live in a void. Added to the load was the police investigation into the murder, the news headlines about gang involvement, the eventual identity of the shooter and realization that Isaiah had died as a result of mistaken identity.
As funerals go, Isaiah’s was like a Hollywood movie. The scene opened with a candlelight vigil at a park across from the Dolores Huerta Preparatory High where the school’s mariachi and a few alums serenaded the grieving students. At the gravesite, more mariachis, some from other groups and some from other states provided the music while white doves were released. Fade to black.
It was about six months later that the harsh reality that Isaiah’s death was literally a grave mistake. Initially, investigators thought the shooting was between two rival gang members. They identified the shooter as Leo Montoya, a known gang member who had been suspected of involvement in shooting of another young man two days earlier.
Isaiah was eventually cleared of any gang affiliation.
Turns out, Montoya had himself been shot by a rival gang member earlier and as a result is confined to a wheelchair. The motive was revenge and the common thread between Isaiah and the other shooting victim was that they both drove silver BMWs. Montoya reportedly believed the man who shot him drove a silver BMW. Two cases of mistaken identity.
Montoya never went to trial and the many details of the investigation are unknown. In a plea bargain, Montoya pled guilty to attempted first degree murder and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. This summer after serving nine years, he was denied parole and placement in a community halfway house.
During those same nine years, Isaiah has become well-known, largely because of the Isaiah Vialpando Memorial Vicla Runs that began in 2017, organized by his parents. Memorial Vicla runs in Albuquerque, N.M. and Colorado Springs have also been held. Over $80,000 has been raised and 126 scholarships have been awarded, according to Robert Cordova.
Isaiah has been immortalized in numerous other ways. For Thanksgiving 2024, the Isaiah Memorial Scholarship group distributed food baskets to over 200 Pueblo families. The food baskets were provided by Excalibur, a nonprofit food distributor, Manuel Arellano, formerly of Dog Patch who organize the Chicano Pride Ride in Denver, and Susan Durga of the Spider Madril Memorial Run.
We will never know what Isaiah may had accomplished had he lived, but there is hope that the accomplishments of those who received scholarships in his memory will continue to add to his legacy.