Pueblo man sentenced to decades in prison for 2022 Good Friday murder
A Pueblo man was sentenced to more than three decades in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to murder.
Raymond Apodaca, 39, was sentenced to 34 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections after shooting and killing Victor Trujillo in the 600 block of East Third Street on April 15, 2022.
During an interview with police, Apodaca confessed to the shooting, stating he had falsely believed at the time that his sister was being held captive at Trujillo's residence.
Apodaca previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder under an agreement with the 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office. He later attempted to back out of the deal, but his self-filed motion to withdraw his plea was denied in January, according to court records.
The plea deal stipulated that Apodaca plead guilty to second-degree murder. In exchange, the original charge of first-degree murder would be dropped, and Apodaca would serve no more than 34 years in prison, along with a mandatory five years of parole post-release.
During the sentencing hearing, relatives of Trujillo expressed pain and grief over the loss of their loved one.
Trujillo's young daughter attempted to read a statement, but began to sob, and her mother finished it for her. In the statement, she said she missed her father and regretted that he would never be able to take her to prom, or walk her down the aisle at her future wedding.
She said that due to Apodaca's actions, a hug from her father is something she now can only imagine.
Mona Martin, Trujillo's great aunt, called Apodaca a "cold, callous, heartless killer." She described her nephew as a good man who was always willing to help his family.
"I am having trouble forgiving you, Raymond, but I know that I am supposed to forgive so that I may be forgiven. So I am asking God for the strength to help forgive you," she said.
Deputy District Attorney David Dingess asked for the maximum sentence allowable under the plea agreement.
Dingess argued that Trujillo's death was extremely traumatic to his family, especially since most lived nearby and heard the gunshots that killed Trujillo.
Dingess stated the first shot likely killed Trujillo, but Apodaca shot him several more times.
Given the number of shots fired, Apodaca's previous five felony convictions, and the fact that Trujillo was unarmed and seemed to pose no threat to Apodaca, Dingess stated that the totality of the circumstances justifies a maximum sentence.
Adam Schultz, who represented Apodaca in the case, argued that his client was "not a cold-blooded killer" and that Trujillo was "not an innocent lamb."
Schultz argued that Apodaca had been largely abandoned by his parents as a child and raised by his grandparents with very little discipline and structure in his life. As a result, Apodaca grew up believing he had failed his family and wanted to "atone," Schultz said, developing a deep sense of loyalty and duty to family.
It was this sense of duty, he argued, that made Apodaca desperate to help his sister when he perceived she was threatened, and his sister had been unable to disabuse him of that notion due to not having a phone at the time.
Schultz stated that Apodaca "knew Trujillo was known to carry a knife," and reacted with a fight-or-flight response when Trujillo approached him outside the residence, pulling a handgun from a backpack and firing multiple shots in Trujillo's direction.
In a short statement on his own behalf, Apodaca apologized for the harm he caused and simply begged for forgiveness from the victim's family.
Judge Thomas Flesher admonished Apodaca, noting that he had a history of criminal convictions that should have barred him from having a gun in the first place.
Flesher stated that Apodaca should have called 911 and allowed the police to take care of the situation. Instead, Flesher scolded, "You took the law into your own hands."
Flesher then sentenced Apodaca to 34 years in prison, with 725 days of pre-sentence confinement credit.
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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Raymond Apodaca sentenced to 34 years in 2022 murder of Victor Trujillo
