Pueblo man pleads guilty to September 2022 murder sparked by domestic fight
A Pueblo man recently pleaded guilty to murder in the 2022 shooting death of Greg Garcia, according to court documents.
Sonny Sanchez, 48, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a plea deal signed May 6. In return for his guilty plea, the original charge of first-degree murder was dropped.
Sanchez will serve a stipulated term of 48 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. If convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, Sanchez would have faced life in prison. He will also serve a mandatory five years of parole upon his release.
Sanchez shot and killed Garcia on Sept. 29, 2022, according to court documents. Sanchez was served with the murder warrant on Oct. 25 of that year, while he was already in jail on unrelated charges.
In statements to investigators detailed in an arrest affidavit, Garcia's girlfriend said she and Garcia went to buy pills from Sanchez on the night of Sept. 27, visiting Sanchez's RV that was parked on Tuxedo Drive.
The pair gave Sanchez a ride in their van, the girlfriend said, first to a residence where Sanchez allegedly retrieved a firearm from a friend, and then to a gas station to buy fuel before heading to a residence in the 2200 block of Cheyenne Avenue.
Sanchez went inside the Cheyenne residence, Garcia's girlfriend said, and while they were waiting outside, she and Garcia began fighting, which she said was common, according to the affidavit.
The girlfriend told investigators that during the fight, she didn't see Sanchez come out of the house but felt his arm on her shoulder and saw him pointing a gun toward Garcia.
Sanchez was allegedly standing outside the driver's side door pointing the gun through the window, according to the affidavit. Sanchez allegedly told Garcia, "Stop hitting her, she's my friend."
Sanchez then walked around the back of the van, jumped in the backseat behind Garcia and shot him in the back of the head, the girlfriend told police.
Sanchez then allegedly held Garcia's girlfriend captive overnight at his RV, and did not allow her to take Garcia to the hospital, according to the affidavit.
Sanchez is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14 by District Judge Thomas Flesher.
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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo man pleads guilty to murder charge in September 2022 shooting
