An Aurora police officer will not be prosecuted for shooting and killing a man who was straddling his girlfriend and stabbing her in the middle of a snow-covered street in December.
Officer Dale Leonard had no choice but to shoot 51-year-old Efrain Villanueva, who did not follow orders to stop stabbing the woman in the 700 block of North Kenton Street, according to a letter from Cori Alcock, senior deputy district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. The letter was addressed to Aurora Police Department Chief Nick Metz.
Leonard was one of three officers who responded to a 911 call for help. He arrived with his headlights and overhead lights turned on and saw Villanueva stabbing a woman with a 3- to 4-inch butcher knife, the letter said.
“Office Leonard described that Villanueva’s arm moved like ‘a piston’ in a stabbing motion, going up and down,” the letter said.
Leonard ordered to Villanueva to stop but his commands were ignored. Leonard told investigators that he thought he had to “finish this,” the letter said. The first shot did not stop Villanueva, so Leonard repositioned himself and fired a second time. Villanueva fell.
The shooting ended in a quiet neighborhood where houses sparkled with Christmas lights. Neighbors.
Villanueva’s girlfriend, Mireya Ramirez-Muniz, died from her stab wounds. She was the mother of four children.
Ramirez-Muniz’s mother, who also had been stabbed, called 911 about 7:41 p.m. Throughout the call, the mother screamed for her daughter to run as she pleaded for help. The daughter’s screams also could be heard in the call.
Ramirez-Muniz escaped her home and ran outside. But Villanueva chased her down and tackled her in the street before police arrived. Leonard’s gunshots were heard on the 911 call.
After the shooting, , saying the shooting gave Ramirez-Muniz the best chance to live and spared her mother, who was running to help her daughter, further harm.
