Man facing manslaughter in connection with 2020 Longmont death

May 17—A 46-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of his friend and neighbor, who was found unconscious in October 2020 and died eight days later.

Luis Salvador Caraveo was charged Tuesday with reckless manslaughter and second-degree assault. According to the charging document, prosecutors allege Caraveo "unlawfully, feloniously, and recklessly caused the death of Honorio Guerrero" by hitting Guerrero over the head with a beer bottle.

According to an arrest affidavit, police were called to a building in Longmont at 8:42 p.m. Oct. 4, 2020, for a welfare check. The location of the building was redacted in the arrest affidavit, but according to the affidavit both Guerrero and Caraveo lived in the building.

Police said Guerrero was found lying unconscious in a parking lot next to a sedan belonging to Caraveo's partner. Guerrero's face was covered in blood and police noted it appeared he had been "bludgeoned."

Guerrero was taken to Longmont United Hospital and later airlifted to St. Anthony's Hospital in Lakewood, but he never regained consciousness and died on Oct. 12, 2020.

According to the affidavit, Guerrero's wife said he had been hanging out with Caraveo the day of his death. When police went to talk to Caraveo's partner, she said she did not know anything about what had happened and that Caraveo had gone to Montana for work.

But police said Caraveo's partner appeared to be evading questions and then became defensive and asked to speak to her lawyer.

Caraveo contacted Longmont police on Oct. 9 and agreed to speak. According to the affidavit, he told police that he and Guerrero began hanging out at 5 p.m. Oct. 4 when Guerrero asked Caraveo to get him some alcohol.

Caraveo said Guerrero then asked to borrow $20, but Caraveo had no change so gave Guerrero a $100 bill. Guerrero then asked Caraveo to take him to a friend's house, even though Caraveo said he wanted to go home. Caraveo said Guerrero spent about 30 minutes at that friend's house before they went home. Caraveo told police he went to his unit while Guerrero said something about wanting to go to a garage and drink more.

Caraveo said he got a ride from his partner to Interstate 25, where he met up with coworkers for a job in Montana.

But on Dec. 30, 2020, Longmont police investigated Caraveo for a domestic dispute with his partner, who then told police Caraveo had killed Guerrero and that she was no longer going to cover for him.

According to the affidavit, Caraveo admitted to his partner that he and Guerrero had been arguing because Guerrero did not give Caraveo change for the $100 bill and kept making him stay out when Caraveo wanted to go home.

Caraveo reportedly told his partner that when they got back to the parking lot, Guerrero told Caraveo he was going to kill him, prompting Caraveo to hit Guerrero over the head with a 40-ounce beer bottle. Caraveo then "freaked out" and asked his partner to rent him a hotel room near I-25 when they heard police coming to the address.

A search warrant executed on Caraveo's cellphone data also indicated he did not leave his home until after Guerrero was found, and that his cellphone never left the state of Colorado, contradicting his story that he left for a job out of state.

According to the affidavit, Caraveo was again investigated for a domestic incident with his partner, who again told investigators Caraveo had killed Guerrero.

An autopsy determined the cause of death to be complications from blunt force injuries, but the manner of death was undetermined. A forensic pathologist said there was a fracture on Guerrero's skull that was consistent with hitting a flat object, as opposed to something rounded.

The forensic pathologist said it was possible Guerrero's injuries matched up with Caraveo hitting him with a beer bottle, but also said it was possible he could have sustained the injury by simply falling from a standing position.

The autopsy also showed Guerrero had a blood alcohol level of 0.289.

Caraveo is in custody on $50,000 bond and is set for a preliminary hearing on June 27.

According to the affidavit, Caraveo has a criminal history that includes prior arrests on suspicion of first-degree assault, simple assault — domestic violence, criminal impersonation and attempt to influence an official.