Man sentenced for deadly shooting, dumping murder victim's body in field
A man has been sentenced in Adams County Court after his conviction for an August 2020 deadly shooting. Christopher Matthews, 22, was convicted of the crimes by a jury on Aug. 12, 2022.
Matthews was 20 years old at the time of the murder in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, 2020. Prosecutors said he picked up Tanner Banderet, 20, from an apartment complex in Westminster to complete a cocaine deal. As Matthews was driving his Cadillac near 116th Avenue and Pecos Street, he grabbed his Glock handgun from the cup holder, pointed it at Banderet and fired a single shot that struck the victim behind the left ear in the carotid artery.
According to court documents, Matthews drove to a field along West 84th Avenue in Westminster and dumped Banderet's body. Matthews deep-cleaned his vehicle and disposed of the evidence before Westminster police named him as the lead suspect in the case.
Matthews was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 35 years in the Department of Corrections.
"This defendant destroyed a life," said District Attorney Brian Mason. "He will now serve a lengthy sentence for this serious crime. I am grateful to my team at the DA's Office for their hard work on this challenging case and to the jury for returning a just verdict."
