An Adams County jury on Friday found Jeremy Rocha guilty of first-degree murder with extreme indifference in the shooting death of a volunteer firefighter during a street racing incident on Father’s Day weekend in 2022.

Rocha was also convicted of second-degree murder, as well as four counts of attempted murder to represent John Jaros’ family members, who were in his truck when he was shot to death. Rocha will be sentenced to life in prison. 

Rocha, now 22, was arrested and charged in Jaros’ killing five days after the shooting. 

Jaros, the assistant chief of the Glen Haven Area Volunteer Fire Department, was shot and killed on June 18, 2022 on I-70 in Aurora.

Closing arguments in Rocha’s trial in Adams County District Court occurred on Friday morning, and the jury began deliberations about 11 a.m. They reached a verdict in just over three hours. 

Rocha took the stand at the end of the trial and claimed the shooting was in self-defense, according to Denver Gazette news partner 9News. He claimed that Jaros started the situation when he rammed Rocha’s new car as he was street racing against a black Camaro. 

“We’re driving for a couple seconds now. We are going about 80 miles an hour,” Rocha said on the stand. “When I look in my rearview mirror, and I see this white truck coming up behind us at a high rate of speed.”

In his testimony — which prosecutors maintained “was totally made up” — Rocha said that Jaros had sped up enough to catch up with the Camaro and then began driving in the left shoulder lane. Rocha then said Jaros “rammed” into the Camaro. He told the jury that he could see a gun in Jaros’ right hand and so he fired at Jaros’ truck nine times.

Jaros’ wife said she heard at least four gunshots and saw her husband slump over. Jaros was hit in the head, according to the arrest affidavit. Jaros’ three children were also riding in the car with him.

The family had planned to go camping for Father’s Day weekend.

That day, Rocha purchased the white Mustang he was driving. He met up with friends at a Maverik gas station, a known spot for car enthusiasts. Rocha then drove on I-70 with three other drivers. Two cars were taking up two lanes to slow down traffic and create enough space on the interstate to race.

Police said four vehicles, including Rocha’s, had stopped traffic flow along the interstate between Tower Road and E-470.

Jaros drove around the vehicles that were stopped when he was shot. Prosecutors said Rocha was mad that Jaros interrupted the street race.

The prosecution had said that, in messages with friends after the shooting, Rocha didn’t show remorse and told a friend he had “dumped his clip” but never shared that he acted in self-defense until a jail call with his mother.

In court, the prosecution asked Rocha, “So, the fact that Jonathon Jaros was shot and killed in I-70 was entirely his fault?”

“Correct,” Rocha replied.

Rocha maintained that he did not see Jaros’ wife in the passenger seat and did not know there were children in the car.

Rocha’s sentencing is scheduled for May 23 at 10:30 a.m. 

9News.com contributed to this report. For more on this and other stories, visit our partner at 9News.com.