A former LaSalle police officer who fatally shot a man outside a Family Dollar store while on duty was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday.
Erik Gustavo Hernandez, 36, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in January, court records show.
Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury on one count of second-degree murder, but a Weld County jury couldn’t reach a verdict after his trial in November.
The shooting happened on May 3, 2023, when Hernandez and another officer were investigating a suspicious vehicle parked outside the Family Dollar at 165 S. Second St. in LaSalle. The vehicle’s owner, Juston Reffel, ran out of the store to his car and started to drive away, and Hernandez fired four shots at Reffel, hitting him in the torso, according to court records. The 38-year-old later died at the hospital.
“There’s nothing more serious than the loss of human life,” Deputy District Attorney Lacy Wells said in a statement. “There’s one benefit here, though, and it’s that this individual will never be a police officer again. Juston deserved better and so did the citizens of Weld County.”
An attorney for Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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