Victim identified, new details revealed in Jefferson County cemetery shooting

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The victim in the deadly weekend shooting at a Jefferson County cemetery has been identified as new details emerge.

Law enforcement responded on Saturday night to the Crown Hill Cemetery, near 29th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, for a fight that turned into a shooting, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Ryan Trujillo-Falcon, 22, was arrested in connection to the death of 20-year-old Geano Chavez.

“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 said.

New details in Crown Hill Cemetery shooting

Arrest papers that FOX31 obtained on Monday say that a fight broke out between Trujillo-Falcon, Chavez and another woman after Chavez reported feeling sick at the cemetery. The woman was reportedly injured in the fight but was treated and released from the hospital.

According to court documents: “Ryan told Geano to stop and Ryan explained [to investigators] that he did not see any weapon in his hand; however, when Geano started coming towards Ryan, he directed the gun at him and said he fired one shot.”

Chavez later died.

“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.”

Court documents also say Trujillo-Falcon told investigators he does not possess a legal concealed carry permit issued to him, but he began carrying a firearm since his late friend, whose gravesite they were visiting on Saturday night, was killed in a shooting two years ago.

The cemetery declined an interview with FOX31 but said in a statement: “We are saddened by the circumstances of the night of August 17. This type of situation is highly unusual at a funeral home or cemetery. We are cooperating fully with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigation, as safety of the families we serve is of the utmost importance to us.”

“The cemetery was closed but I don’t know that the gates were closed … it was definitely after-hours,” Kelley said.

The suspect is due in court on Friday morning, facing counts of first-degree murder and second-degree assault.

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