Former police officer in Northern Colorado sentenced for shooting, killing man

A former LaSalle police officer was sentenced for shooting and killing a man outside a Family Dollar store in Northern Colorado in 2023. Erik Hernandez was sentenced to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections on April 25.

Hernandez shot and killed Juston Reffel on May 3, 2023 at a Family Dollar store in LaSalle, just south of Greeley. He was at the store responding to a complaint about a suspicious vehicle.

Hernandez shot and killed Reffel, 38, as he drove away from the store, striking him in the torso, according to the indictment and autopsy report.

Hernandez pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a Weld County jury couldn't reach a unanimous verdict after two days of deliberation in November 2024. 

"There's nothing more serious than the loss of human life," Weld County Deputy District Attorney Lacy Wells said in a statement."There's one benefit here, though, and it's that this individual will never be a police officer again. Juston deserved better, and so did the citizens of Weld County."