Young mother's unborn child tragically killed in shooting attack
A Fort Morgan woman and her boyfriend are recovering from an attack this week that also claimed the life of their unborn baby boy.
Sturgis Strand and Juan Gutierrez were shot in Fort Morgan earlier this week, allegedly by the father of Strand's older child. Gutierrez and Strand survived the attack, but tragically the unborn boy, named Mario, died as a result of a gunshot wound.
"It was the worst thing ever," said Randy Strand, Sturgis's father. "My daughter got shot in the stomach, she was 37 and a half weeks pregnant."
Randy, and his sister Misty, spoke with CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas about the heartbreak their family has gone through since the shooting hospitalized Sturgis and Juan.
While they did not want to speak on many specifics of the shooting out of respect of the investigation, they did share that Randy's granddaughter was present when her father, Andres Garcia, allegedly shot her mother.
"This all occurred right next to her five-year-old daughter, two feet away," Randy said.
"Which was the daughter of the shooter," Misty said.
After a search, law enforcement said they found Garcia and arrested him during a traffic stop. Another unnamed woman was arrested during the traffic stop but was later released.
Garcia was jailed on a $2 million bond and charged with multiple crimes including two counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
The Strand Family said they were devastated over the loss of baby Mario, and also felt justice wasn't served because Colorado law does not recognize Mario's death as a murder.
"It was a week away from the baby being born," Randy said.
"This baby was a human, and he was murdered," Misty said. "By Colorado law, they don't consider him a human. But, baby Mario was a human."
The Strand Family noted that Mario was only one week away from his due date and could have been born on the day he was killed and been considered a perfectly healthy child. They said they felt the laws should be changed to make Mario's death punishable by a murder charge.
"It is not enough, there should be a murder charge. He was murdered," Randy said.
While devastated over the loss of his grandchild, Randy said he was also balancing being grateful that his daughter and her boyfriend survived the shootings.
Sturgis, who approved the family's interview with CBS News Colorado from her hospital bed, is now able to speak. However, she is understandably going through a very difficult process of grieving and healing at the same time.
"I thank God every day. When I got to the hospital I went to the chapel. I thank God," Randy said.
The family has set up a crowdfunding effort in hope of raising money to cover the mounting medical bills Juan and Sturgis will now face. The fundraiser, titled "Help Family In Need" on one of the most popular crowdfunding websites, is seeking to raise at least $20,000 to help the family. So far donors have already raised nearly $8,000 for the fundraiser which is under the category of "Rent, Food & Monthly Bills."
Randy said his daughter wanted the community to know she greatly loved her baby boy, Mario, and was mourning the loss of not only a pregnancy but also of a child.
"Hold your kids, love your kids and tell them every single day. Because you never know when they can be taken away in an instant," Randy said.
