Two people accused of orchestrating a shooting that killed a woman in Lakewood last year have together been sentenced to more than , according to Jefferson County court records.
Manelson Leonel Ramirez, 27, was sentenced in December to 39 years in prison for second-degree murder in the January 2025 shooting death of 26-year-old Nairelis Castel-Orozco, court records show. Ramirez’s girlfriend, Flor Maria Contreras-Mujica, 26, was sentenced to seven years in prison for second-degree assault and criminally negligent homicide, both felonies, for her role in Castel-Orozco’s death, according to court records.
Lakewood officers responded to reports of a shooting in the 1400 block of Kendall Street at about 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 14, 2025, police said.
When officers arrived, they found a woman lying on her side with a pool of blood near her head, according to Ramirez’s arrest affidavit. Officers rolled the woman, Castel-Orozco, onto her back and discovered she was actively bleeding from her face and neck.
Paramedics took Castel-Orozco to the hospital, where she later died from a gunshot wound to her throat, according to the affidavit.
Contreras-Mujica told investigators that she was married to the victim and that they lived together. The two had been together for roughly 11 years, but Contreras-Mujica was “constantly cheating on” Castel-Orozco, the victim’s sister told police in the affidavit.
Castel-Orozco told her sister that Contreras-Mujica wanted to end the relationship in December 2024, the month before her fatal shooting, the affidavit stated. Contreras-Mujica started openly dating Ramirez at that time.
The victim also told her sister on the morning of the shooting that Contreras-Mujica had threatened to send someone to their apartment to kill Castel-Orozco, according to the affidavit.
Contreras-Mujica originally told police that she and Castel-Orozco had gone outside to take out the trash when a man with a face covering approached them and shot Castel-Orozco, the affidavit stated.
But another woman living in the apartment contradicted her story, telling investigators that Contreras-Mujica and Castel-Orozco had fought about Contreras-Mujica’s relationship with Ramirez on the morning of the shooting, police said in the affidavit. Contreras-Mujica attempted to set Castel-Orozco’s clothes on fire and accidentally burned the mattress in their shared bedroom. She also threatened Castel-Orozco with a lighter.
When Ramirez arrived at the apartment, Contreras-Mujica urged Castel-Orozco to go out and confront him, the roommate told police in the affidavit.
Castel-Orozco argued with Ramirez outside the apartment, and Ramirez shot at her, according to the affidavit. That bullet appeared to hit the apartment building behind Castel-Orozco. Ramirez got back into the truck and Castel-Orozco followed him to the driver’s side. Thatap when he shot her in the mouth, police said.
Contreras-Mujica asked Ramirez to take Castel-Orozco to the hospital, but he refused and drove away in a white car spotted on the apartment complex’s cameras, according to the affidavit.
The roommate described Contreras-Mujica as “having no emotion” about Castel-Orozco being shot, the affidavit stated. After the shooting, the roommate was “instructed by someone on the phone not to get involved,” police said.
Ramirez took a deal and pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder, according to Jefferson County court records. That deal dropped additional felony charges of first-degree murder, witness intimidation and evidence tampering from his case.
Contreras-Mujica took a separate deal and pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and criminally negligent homicide, both felonies, court records show. Her deal dropped additional felony charges of first-degree murder, witness intimidation, evidence tampering and third-degree assault from her case.
