Pueblo sheriff's office says 2023 homicide suspect was found in field, covered in blood
A Pueblo woman arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder after she allegedly shot and killed a man in August claimed the victim had assaulted her and later threatened to shoot sheriff's deputies, according to an arrest affidavit from the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office.
Loren Casados, 33, was allegedly found wandering in a field the day of the shooting, covered in blood. She was arrested April 12 with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Contact between Casados and the man she's accused of killing, Larry Maes, began on the evening of Aug. 3 with Maes initially contacting Casados over Facebook Messenger.
During the conversation — the messages of which were reviewed by PCSO detectives after obtaining a search warrant — Maes sent several flirtatious messages to Casados, including a request for a lewd photograph, which Casados refused, according to the affidavit.
In the early afternoon of Aug. 4, Maes sent a message asking Casados what she was doing, after which several video calls were exchanged and Casados sent Maes an address.
At approximately 7:19 p.m. that day, Casados was found in the 1800 block of Spanish Lady Lane in Pueblo West. Deputies arrived and found Casados with three women who were giving her water and trying to help her.
Casados told deputies she was with a man she knew from high school who had contacted her on Facebook. She said the man, identified later as Maes, had picked her up and driven her to a prairie.
Casados alleged in her comments to investigators that Maes made sexual advances toward her but she refused, at which point she claimed Maes grew angry and physically assaulted her, according to the affidavit.
Casados stated she physically defended herself, which caused Maes to swerve off the road and crash the car. Casados did not explicitly admit to shooting Maes, according to the affidavit.
While medical personnel at a local hospital attempted to perform Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) testing on Casados, she refused any such testing. She also repeatedly threatened and swore at deputies at the hospital and told them that she would "shoot them in the face," according to the affidavit.
However, a detective observed scratches across Casados's chest, arms, legs, and both sides of her face under her eyes. The affidavit noted that while the detective did not observe any scratches on her hands, which were covered in blood, the detective did not look closely at them as they were handcuffed behind Casados's back.
At the scene of the crash in the 1700 block of East Tenderfoot Lane, Maes was found dead inside the vehicle with a single gunshot wound. Two spent cartridge casings were found on the ground outside of the vehicle on the passenger side, along with one live bullet.
Multiple full and empty "shooter" bottles of alcohol were found around the vehicle. Bloodstains were also found, which the affidavit stated were consistent with someone covered in blood walking around the vehicle.
A 9mm handgun registered to Casados was found in a field nearby.
An autopsy of Maes indicated that he died of a "near contact" gunshot wound to the head, which appeared to have been caused by another person.
In a summary of the evidence, the affidavit also noted that Casados "fled from the scene and made no attempts to contact law enforcement or to retrieve help from citizens."
Casados is being held at the Pueblo County jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo sheriff's office: Homicide suspect threatened to shoot deputies
