WELD COUNTY, Colo. – A former LaSalle police officer on Monday pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 2023 shooting death of a man at a Family Dollar store.
Erik Hernandez was indicted by a Weld County grand jury on one count of second-degree murder after shooting and killing Juston Reffel.
On Monday, Hernandez took a plea agreement and accepted a manslaughter charge, which is a class 4 felony.
According to the 19th Judicial District, former officer Hernandez shot and killed Reffel during a suspicious vehicle call on May 3, 2023. Hernandez and another officer were investigating a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of the Family Dollar store.
According to our partners at The Denver Post, the officers parked a unit behind the vehicle and entered the store trying to locate the driver.Hernandez left the store and encountered Reffel, who placed the vehicle in reverse and left the parking spot before the former LaSalle officer fired shots, reported The Denver Post.
Reffel died at a hospital.
Monday’s manslaughter plea comes after a Weld County jury in November 2024 failed to reach a unanimous verdict, the district attorney’s office said.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 25, 2025.
