A Colorado man fatally shot his buddy dead inside a cemetery after the victim said he was going to vomit near their deceased friend’s grave, reports said.
Ryan Trujillo-Falcon, 22, fatally shot 20-year-old Geano Eugene Chavez and pistol-whipped a woman as they gathered at Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge to honor the birthday of their mutual friend — who had also died from gun violence, authorities told Fox 31.
“These people were all known to each other. They went there together to visit the gravesite of someone that they all knew, who had just had a birthday,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s spokesperson Jacki Kelley told the outlet.
Chavez got into an argument with the unnamed woman just before 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17 — after the cemetery was closed for the night, authorities said.
The fight reportedly broke out after Chavez told the group he was starting to feel sick, according to an affidavit obtained by Law and Crime.
Trujillo-Falcon told Chavez to go to the street if he was going to vomit, but Chavez refused and “was going to vomit on the grave next to him,” the affidavit said.
As the fight escalated, Trujillo-Falcon struck the woman on her head with the butt of the gun before using it to shoot Chavez, who later died at the hospital from his injuries, according to police.
The woman involved was injured but treated and released from the hospital, officials said.
“This is the first for me in my career that we’ve been dispatched to a cemetery that was in reference to the shooting of a person who ended up dying,” Kelley said. “The cemetery is a place that comforts people. Oftentimes, it’s a place to go visit someone that you’ve lost, but it’s not typically a place of violence, so very unusual.”
Chavez’s brother noted in a GoFundMe fundraiser that his life was taken by “a person he called a friend.
“Geano was the definition of a true friend,” his brother wrote.
“He would give you the shirt off his back no questions asked,” the post said. “Geano was exceedingly talented as an artist with a passion for music. You can bet you’ll catch Geano hitting up the basketball court & watching football. A recent graduate as well, he was definitely going places.
Trujillo-Falcon allegedly told police he didn’t have a legal concealed carry permit, but had been carrying a firearm since his late friend whose grave they were visiting died in a shooting two years ago.
Trujillo-Falcon was charged with first-degree murder and second-degree assault. He is being held on a $1 million bond at the Jefferson County Jail.
