Man charged with first-degree murder in Pine Bluffs shooting

Sep. 16—CHEYENNE — A Colorado man arrested early last week in connection with a deadly shooting has been charged with first-degree murder.

Rodrigo Vigner Turcios Romero, also known as Yigner Rodrigo Turcios Romero, is either age 30 or 31, and is from Greeley, Colorado. He was recently charged in the shooting death of Olvin Yonairo Montoya Ramirez, 37.

If convicted, Turcios Romero could face life in prison or the death penalty. A preliminary hearing is set for 11 a.m. Friday in Laramie County Circuit Court.

Turcios Romero was in custody Thursday at the Laramie County jail, according to a jail employee.

Deputies with the Laramie County Sheriff's Office were dispatched at 1:47 p.m. on Sept. 4 to the 300 block of County Road 161 in Pine Bluffs for a reported assault with a gun. A man was reportedly shot at the residence. Deputies found the man in a detached garage with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, according to a probable cause affidavit. The man, Montoya, was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, where he died.

A man who lives in the area told deputies that Turcios Romero was the person who shot Montoya, and that Turcios Romero had left the house on a bicycle.

While being interviewed by law enforcement, this man said Turcios Romero had been visiting his home that morning, and the two had been drinking beer and talking about Turcios Romero's relationship issues, according to court documents. A third man, Montoya, arrived. The three apparently knew each other because they'd previously worked for the same company.

The man said Turcios Romero's girlfriend then arrived at the home and "demanded" the keys to her vehicle from Turcios Romero, who gave them to her, and she "left at a high rate of speed." Turcios Romero then entered and exited the garage at least three times. On the third time, the man said, Turcios Romero pulled a small handgun from his waistband and "said something like 'This is what you get' before shooting (Montoya) once," the affidavit says.

The man went to his own house, where he told his family to lock the doors and call 911. Turcios Romero reportedly went to the front door and yelled for his keys, which the man said he did not have, and he told Turcios Romero to leave. Turcios Romero continued walking around the property until he got on the man's son's bike and rode away, the man said.

Speaking to deputies on Sept. 6, Turcios Romero initially said he didn't remember what happened the day Montoya was shot. He then told detectives he was at his friend's home in the 300 block of County Road 161 when he called Montoya and asked him to pick him up.

Montoya reportedly arrived at the home with his son, who stayed in the car. Turcios Romero said he "did not have any arguments with Montoya," but after Turcios Romero exited and re-entered the garage, Turcios Romero pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot Montoya once. Turcios Romero said he'd been standing about four or five feet away from Montoya when he fired, and Montoya was sitting and looking at his phone.

"Turcios Romero said he ran from the area because he knew what he had done was wrong," the affidavit says, and he hid in a cornfield until the following day. That is when he walked back to the home in the 300 block of County Road 161 and turned himself in to law enforcement.

Turcios Romero apparently told deputies he doesn't know why he shot Montoya, and that he'd been thinking about shooting the man for only about 15 to 20 minutes beforehand, the affidavit says. He said he and Montoya lived together in Greeley and "treat each other like 'brothers.'"

He told deputies that he would have tried to flee the day he turned himself in if he'd been able to find the bike in the cornfield. Turcios Romero said he wished he could apologize to Montoya's son and bring back his father.

Turcios Romero said he did not normally carry a gun, and he'd taken it from his girlfriend's home that morning because he "said he 'had a feeling, a gut feeling that something was not right,'" court documents show. Deputies later found the handgun near the area where he said he'd discarded it.

A pathologist who conducted an autopsy said Montoya had died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Hannah Black is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at hblack@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3128. Follow her on Twitter at @hannahcblack.