A Denver man was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison Thursday for killing a woman and disposing of her remains near Lyons in 2024.
A Boulder County jury found Andres Eloy Martinez Perez, 33, guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday afternoon, according to online court records. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Martinez Perez was arrested in December 2024 after his girlfriend’s remains were found near Lyons that September. Gaudy Garcia Pina, 37, had been reported missing from Denver thatJuly.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said the jury’s verdict and the life sentence are justice and that Pina “was very much loved by her family and friends.”
“They will have to live with this terrible loss for the rest of their lives,” Dougherty said.
“I hope today’s verdict and life sentence brings some answers and peace for the victim’s many loved ones,” he added.
Pina’s body was discovered in a field northwest of Lyons in September 2024, but investigators struggled to identify her. Sheriff’s officials originally said they couldn’t determine the body’s gender because it had been decomposed.
Itap unclear how long the woman’s body was in the field before she was found.
The coroner’s office was able to estimate the woman’s age and physical characteristics during an autopsy, which investigators used to find a Denver Police Department missing person report that matched the case. Investigators contacted the family to get a DNA sample and used rapid DNA analysis to identify Pina, according to Boulder officials.
Pina was originally from Venezuela and had been living in Denver with Martinez Perez, who sheriff’s officials said is a Denver resident. She was reported missing on July 15, 2024.
