A former LaSalle police officer pleaded guilty Monday in connection with the fatal on-duty shooting of a man outside a Family Dollar store in 2023.
Erik Hernandez pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a class 4 felony, the Weld County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
A grand jury in June 2023 indicted Hernandez on one count of second-degree murder after he shot and killed 38-year-old Juston Reffel on May 3, 2023. A Weld County jury in November 2024 could not reach a unanimous verdict after deliberating for nearly two days.
Prosecutors say the shooting occurred after Hernandez and another officer encountered a suspicious vehicle parked outside the Family Dollar, 165 S. Second St. in LaSalle.
When the officers attempted to locate the vehicle owner, Reffel fled the store and got in his car. He then pulled out of the parking lot as Hernandez yelled for him to get out of the vehicle.
The officer shot Reffel in the torso, prosecutors said. He later died at the hospital.
Hernandez is set to be sentenced April 25.
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