Body-camera reporting added more detail to the encounter. Police1, citing 9News reporting, said Hernandez was on his third day of field training when he and his training officer approached the vehicle in the Family Dollar parking lot. The officers reportedly went inside the store looking for the driver before Reffel ran out, got into the vehicle, reversed several feet, and began to drive away.
According to Denver7, Hernandez fired four shots as Reffel left the parking space, hitting him in the torso. Reffel later died at the hospital.
After sentencing, Weld County Deputy District Attorney Lacy Wells said, “There’s nothing more serious than the loss of human life,” and added that Hernandez would never again be a police officer. “Juston deserved better and so did the citizens of Weld County,” Wells said, according to the district attorney’s office.
The case stands as another example of how a suspicious-vehicle call escalated into a fatal police shooting, followed by a murder indictment, a hung jury, a manslaughter plea, and a prison sentence.
Sources:
Weld County District Attorney’s Office
CBS Colorado: Former officer sentenced
CBS Colorado: Grand jury indictment
Denver7
Police1
