White supremacist on trial for murder in woman's killing
Jury selection began today for a reputed white supremacist accused of killing a Colorado Springs woman during a bungled robbery.
Kandin Eric Wilson, 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 27 shooting of Susana Pelayo-Perez in the parking lot of the Shannon Glen apartments at 260 N. Murray Blvd.
Pelayo-Perez, 35, was a passenger in a white Chevrolet SUV when a bullet shattered the left rear window of the car and hit her below the shoulder. She later died at Memorial Hospital.
Wilson and another suspect, Kyle Robert Gray, both of Colorado Springs, were arrested in December.
In a plea agreement reached last Monday, Gray, 24, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and being an accessory to a crime. He faces 20 to 34 years in prison when he is sentenced following Wilson’s trial. The plea allows for him to serve that sentence in another state to protect his safety while in prison, according to court records.
At a preliminary hearing in February, Colorado Springs police detective Brad Pratt testified that Gray told him that he and Wilson had gone to two bars earlier that evening. Gray said he was driving his girlfriend’s red Ford Escape.
Gray claimed that Wilson directed him to the parking lot where they pulled up alongside the Chevrolet SUV. He said Wilson asked the other driver for directions. A moment later, Wilson pulled out a .40-caliber handgun and pointed it at the SUV driver. When the SUV pulled forward, Gray said Wilson fired a single shot.
Pratt testified that Gray – who has several white supremacist tattoos including swastikas and an iron cross – is a member of the American Nazi Party. Pratt said Gray identified Wilson as a “prospect” who had agreed to a one-year probationary period in the party. The shooting occurred on a night when other party members had gathered in Colorado Springs, Pratt said.
Wilson faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole if he is found guilty of first-degree murder. The trial before 4th Judicial District Judge David L. Shakes, is expected to last two weeks.
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