A 24-year-old man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for an altercation in a Wheat Ridge cemetery that left a man dead and a woman injured.
Ryan Trujillo-Falcon was sentenced in the 2024 shooting of Geano Chavez, . Investigators said the shooting occurred after Trujillo-Falcon argued with Chavez, who threatened to puke on a grave at Crown Hill Cemetery during a memorial service for his friend.
Trujillo-Falcon told Jefferson County Sheriff’s investigators that he told Chavez to go to the street if he was going to be sick, but Chavez said he was going to puke on a nearby grave. Trujillo-Falcon began arguing with Chavez and a woman, who he said punched him in the mouth.
Trujillo-Falcon shot Chavez and hit the woman in the head with a gun, according to the arrest affidavit.
Paramedics took both victims to the hospital, where Chavez died from his injuries, police said. The woman was treated and released.
Wheat Ridge police officers said they found Trujillo-Falcon hiding near gravesites in the middle of the cemetery and arrested him.
Trujillo-Falcon pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 16 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections and three years of parole. He was sentenced to six years for manslaughter. The sentences will be served concurrently.
