Alicia Cardenas Remembered As Influential Artist Following Shooting Spree In Denver & Lakewood
DENVER (CBS4) – The remnants of a violent shooting spree were all over Denver and Lakewood on Tuesday. At 8th Avenue and Zuni Street, crime scene tape lingered as investigators examined a car with busted out windows; debris from a fire littered the ground at 6th Avenue and Cherokee Street; a glass door was pierced with bullet holes at 12th Avenue and Williams Street.
Across town, where the senseless acts of violence started, near 1st Avenue and Broadway, there was a different kind of scene. A little girl peeked inside the window of a closed tattoo shop. That shop, Sol Tribe Tattoo, served as a spot for people to gather and remember the lives of two women who were killed on Monday night.
One of those women was Sol Tribe owner, Alicia Cardenas. Cardenas was a Denver native and Indigenous artist. Her father was among the crowd, somberly remembering his daughter.
"Just thinking about her not being around. It's way too soon, way too soon," he told CBS4's Mekialaya White. "She was influential, friendly, could be gruff at times, but was a real sweetheart. That's Alicia."
Alfredo found out Alicia had been killed from his son in the middle of the night.
"He heard about it online… and he knocked on the door and told me."
He said, while unconfirmed, he had a gut feeling that it was her.
"(I thought) if the person walked in and started hassling the help, she would have been right up front. She would have been right there in front, and I'm sure that's what happened."
Alfredo says amid the senseless crime, he is proud of Alicia. She leaves a legacy, with her artwork speaking for itself.
"She was a unique person. you'd never forget her once you met her. You ask around the tattoo community, they'll know who she is," he said. "She's going to be greatly missed. She affected a huge, huge segment of the Denver community. And I'm getting texts from Portland, Mexico, Kentucky... she influenced a lot of people in a lot of places."
And from here, Alfredo and Alicia's 12-year-old daughter will have to navigate life without her.
"It's just going to be hard to go on, but we have to," Alfredo said.