Woman shot in bus terminal under Denver’s Union Station dies

A 19-year-old man could spend the rest of his life in prison after the woman shot in a bus terminal near Union Station last week died from her injuries.

Jakiem Whitham faces seven felony charges in the death of 19-year-old Ileana Hernandez, including first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree murder with extreme indifference, attempted first-degree murder after deliberation, attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference, second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, menacing with a weapon and using a prohibited large-capacity magazine, according to court records.

Hernandez was shot in the neck while riding an escalator descending into the Regional Transportation District’s Chestnut Pavilion bus terminal underneath Union Station on April 28, according to court documents.

The bus terminal is part of RTD’s Union Station Transit Center.

Investigators said Whitham was fighting with another man over a gun on the stairs when it fired, hitting Hernandez.

Whitham also faces two violent crime sentence enhancers.

The 19-year-old was out on a $50,000 cash or surety bond in a separate Arapahoe County assault case when the shooting happened.

In that case, he faces another 10 felony charges, including first-degree assault causing serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon, four counts of second-degree assault, two counts of robbery, two counts of menacing with a weapon and one count of using a prohibited large capacity magazine, court records show. Three violent crime sentence enhancers were added to that case.