JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A 24-year-old defendant who shot and killed his friend while visiting the gravesite of another friend — who was also killed in a shooting two years prior — was sentenced in Jefferson County court on Friday afternoon.
Ryan Trujillo-Falcon pleaded guilty on Nov. 14, 2025 to second-degree assault and manslaughter. The other charges filed against him were dismissed as part of the plea deal, which included first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and carrying a concealed weapon.
The shooting unfolded around 11 p.m. on Aug. 17, 2024 inside Crown Hill Cemetery in Jefferson County. This is at Wadsworth Boulevard and W. 29th Avenue.
Trujillo-Falcon and the victim, identified as 20-year-old Geano Eugene Chavez, were part of a group of family and friends visiting the gravesite of a friend, who had died in a shooting two years prior.
The two men were friends and had grown up together.
At some point, an argument broke out between Chavez, Trujillo-Falcon and another woman, Judge Andrew Poland said Friday. Trujillo-Falcon ended up striking the woman in the head with his gun, got to his feet and then saw Chavez start to come toward him. He fired one shot, killing Chavez, the judge said.
Chavez was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. The woman was treated at a hospital and released.
Deputies established a perimeter within the cemetery, found all involved people and took Trujillo-Falcon — who was hiding near gravesites in the middle of the cemetery — into custody just after midnight, according to an arrest affidavit. He told deputies afterward that he had hid his firearm in a tree.
"What should have been a moment of remembrance became an irreversible tragedy," one of Chavez's aunts told the courtroom on Friday. "... To our family, he was irreplaceable. He was loved deeply and he mattered."
Chavez's grandmother, who also acted as his mother, said she thinks about him every day and every night.
"I can't tell him how much I love him. He was taken from me," she said.
Prosecutor Antonio Tarantino said the defendant was adamant about the shooting being justified when he spoke with police afterward. He expressed annoyance about the time it took for a detective to arrive to speak with him, he added.
“That’s not taking accountability for this," Tarantino said.
Trujillo-Falcon claimed the shooting was in self-defense, but Tarantino said he was the only person armed in the group that evening. The defense attorneys later argued that was not true.
“We have scores of people who have lost a friend, a son, a grandson, a brother, a significant other," Tarantino said. "We have a family permanently broken here.”
Defense attorney Harvey Steinberg said this was clearly a case of self-defense.
Trujillo-Falcon had been with his friend — whose grave they were visiting that night — when both of them were shot and the friend died, Steinberg said.
Prosecutors asked for the maximum for 16 years in prison. The defense asked for the mid-range sentence of 10 or 11 years.
Trujillo-Falcon also addressed the court on Friday, praising Chavez's best qualities and describing his efforts to build a better life for himself.
He said he will think of what he did to his friend every night for the rest of his life.
“The night I killed somebody I considered my brother," he said.
Trujillo-Falcon apologized for taking him away from his loved ones and said he would educate himself with tools to do the most good in the community that he damaged.
Judge Poland told the courtroom that he had thought about the case all week. Now, the community is grieving the loss of yet another young person due to gun violence, he said. Trujillo-Falcon had a "complete disregard" for human life that night, he concluded.
He then sentenced Trujillo-Falcon to 16 years in the Department of Corrections for the second-degree assault charge, which will run concurrently to the six years sentenced for the manslaughter charge.
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