Parents Still Waiting For Justice 11 Years After Son's Murder
THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4) - A Thornton man's parents are waiting for justice 11 years after his shooting death.
On April 20, 2006, Floyd Robert Sanchez, 23, was shot in the abdomen outside an Adams County bar. His parents, Margie and Floyd Sanchez, say their son had bet on a game of pool with friends and two opponents they did not know. When the game ended and Sanchez won, they say his opponents shot him and his friends outside the bar. Sanchez died hours later. The other two men survived.
"We didn't even get to say bye or nothing," Floyd Sanchez said. "It was just a shock."
Within days of the shooting, the couple says investigators identified Francisco Alfonso Murillo as the suspect in their son's killing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation joined the case, and according to its bulletin, authorities issued a warrant for Francisco's arrest for first-degree murder. By that point, the Sanchez's were told Murillo had fled to Mexico. They waited.
"The justice system seemed like it got slower and slower trying to track him down," Floyd Sanchez says of the years since his son's killing.
"Five years went by and nothing, then 10 years and now 11," Margie Sanchez said. "It's just frustrating."
Murillo remains on the FBI's wanted list. He faces additional federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
A spokesman for the Adam's County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday investigators are actively working the case, alongside the Colorado Attorney General's Office. There are processes they can try use to extradite suspected criminals back to the United States.
Floyd and Margie Sanchez plan to meet with a representative of the Attorney General's Office about their son's case this week. They hope Murillo can be returned to Colorado to face charges in their son's death.
"There's not a day I wake up and I don't think of him," Margie Sanchez said of her first-born son. "I miss him dearly and I just want justice. I can't put my heart and my mind at rest until I have justice for my son."
LINK: FBI Bulletin On Murillo
Lauren DiSpirito reports for CBS4 News at 10 p.m. She covers breaking news and feature stories along Colorado's Front Range. Follow her on Twitter @CBS4Lauren. Share your story ideas with her here.