A Thornton man was sentenced on Friday to 36 years in prison last year as she drove through Adams County, prosecutors say.
, 50, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case.
Prosecutors say Frias shot his wife, Norma Frias, in his Dodge Durango near the intersection of East 74th Avenue and Washington Street on Dec. 20, 2015. The pair had been arguing at a bar before the shooting and authorities say evidence showed Hector Frias shot her as she was driving the SUV.
“This is a senseless and sad crime. As a result of the actions of Hector Frias, his four children are left without their mother and in effect have lost their father as well,” 17th Judicial District Attorney Dave Young said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, Deputy District Attorney Brett Martin told the court during Friday’s sentencing that Norma was still breathing when Frias walked away from the vehicle. He then went to a liquor store, where he bought two shooters of Fireball and went home.
Hector Frias was sentenced to 36 years in prison Friday for second-degree murder in the shooting death of his…
— Colorado's 17th Judicial DA's Office-Brian Mason (@da17colorado)
Frias told police that the shooting was an accident, that the gun fired when it fell and that he then picked it up, according to the district attorney’s office. Martin told the court that the couple’s marriage was deteriorating and Norma had decided to leave.
Deputies found Hector Frias several hours after the Durango was found crashed and say he was stained with blood and drunk, according to an arrest affidavit.
“Itap my fault,” Hector Frias told an investigator, the affidavit said. “I did it, but it was an accident.”
Hector Frias also said, according to the affidavit, that he would not have purposefully shot his wife because “it costs about $10,000 to have a funeral and he would not put that financial burden on his family.”
Chief District Court Judge Patrick Murphy, according to prosecutors, called Frias’ actions “cowardly — to shoot a defenseless woman, the mother of his own children, to leave her to die and then try to make up some story about it.”
