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A man was shot and killed in Denver earlier this month while trying to break up a fight between his girlfriend and another woman, according to Denver Police.
On Tuesday, police announced that they arrested 24-year-old Fernando Sebastian Chavez on Monday for investigation of first-degree murder related to the killing of James Ruiz on July 13.
Around 9:30 p.m. that night, officers responded to the 3800 block of West Arizona Avenue, which is near Garfield Lake Park, for a report about shots fired. When they arrived, they located Ruiz with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to an arrest affidavit, Ruiz’s girlfriend had agreed to meet another woman at the park for a one-on-one fight after receiving threatening calls and messages throughout the day. She arrived at the park with Ruiz and Ruiz’s son.
Earlier that day, the other woman and two other people went to the girlfriend's mother's home looking for her and threatened to assault her. That evening, the group drove to Garfield Lake Park in an SUV, where the other woman got out and began fighting Ruiz's girlfriend.
Multiple witnesses told investigators that Ruiz stepped in to stop the fight and was not acting aggressively. They said a man who was later identified as Chavez approached, pulled out a handgun and shot Ruiz before leaving in a dark SUV.
The affidavit says that Chavez was instructed to retrieve a handgun before meeting at the park. The document states that a member of the group told Chavez that, “If anything happens to me or anybody, just shoot."
A witness told investigators that after hearing gunshots, she saw Chavez running back to the SUV with the gun still in his hand before the group fled, according to the affidavit.
Investigators concluded that Chavez armed himself before the confrontation, carried the firearm into the park and shot Ruiz, who “posed no threat,” the affidavit says. Detectives wrote that Chavez’s actions, firing the gun at Ruiz’s face, demonstrated an intent to kill.
After the shooting, Chavez left the scene, police said.
Timothy Munos, who said the victim was his brother, told Telemundo Denver that the victim was fishing at the park "when everything went wrong."
"I remember him as kindhearted, respectful," Munos said. "Just always being there for me when I needed it."
