Remaining Flagstaff Road murder defendant sentenced to 26 years in prison

Jan. 10—The last remaining defendant charged in the death of Alexis Baca on Flagstaff Road in 2022 has been sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Cody Lee Hobirk, 45, pleaded guilty to felony murder on Aug. 10 as part of a plea deal. His charges of first-degree murder after deliberation, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence, abuse of corpse and tampering with a corpse were dismissed.

He will receive 532 days credit for time served and will have a three-year period of parole when released.

Hobirk originally pleaded not guilty before taking the plea agreement. He was a key witness in the shooting of Baca and was required to testify at the the trial of Jaime Moore in December as part of his plea agreement.

Hobirk said on Wednesday that his willingness to testify has lead to him being assaulted numerous times in jail and being considered a "snitch."

When addressing the court Wednesday, Hobirk added that he hopes his cooperation during the trial showed Baca's family that he was willing to testify in order to find Moore guilty of first-degree murder and be sentenced to life in prison.

Moore was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Baca and sentenced to life in prison.

Ashley Provine, 19, also took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to two felony counts of accessory to a crime and tampering with physical evidence. She currently serving a four-year prison sentence. Elizabeth Griffin, 33, who pleaded guilty to accessory to a crime and tampering with evidence. She was sentenced in September to four years of probation with 18 months of work release.

In court Wednesday, Boulder County Deputy District Attorney Nick Trevino stated that the pre-sentence investigation recommended a 22-year prison sentence. Trevino requested 28 years and Hobirk's defense attorney Hillary Aizenman requested 16.

In court, Trevino said Hobirk was complicit in the killing of Baca and argued that the mitigating factors in Hobirk's case had already been accounted for when the plea deal was presented.

"The evidence was clear at trial," Trevino said. "Four people took advantage of Alexis Baca, they took advantage of her addiction and then they took her life."

Aizenman mentioned Hobirk's traumatic upbringing, which included his father being murdered when Hobirk was 14; his drug addiction; cooperation with police during the investigation and dependency on Moore. Aizenman specifically noted that at the time of the murder, Moore had control over Hobirk's housing, employment, transportation and drugs.

"From the beginning Mr. Hobirk has expressed remorse for the victim and family," Aizenman said. "He acknowledges he could've done more and he feels incredibly remorseful."

Hobirk addressed the court and said he wanted to alert Baca to Moore's intentions but said Moore told him if he said anything Moore would hurt him and Griffin.

"I truly from the bottom of my heart did not set out to cause her harm," Hobirk said regarding Baca. "Throughout all of this I cannot stop thinking about Alexis' family and her young daughter."

Baca's parents addressed the court and spoke about the impact of her death on their family.

"You deserve in life to suffer and pay for the death of my daughter," Baca's father Margo Gallegos said. "It's been very hard to still realize I will never see my daughter again, I will never hear her voice."

Before deciding on a sentence, Boulder District Judge Nancy Salomone listed the aggravating and mitigating factors, including how long Hobirk knew about Moore's intentions prior to Baca being murdered.

Salomone also described the plea agreement as "generous" but took into account Hobirk's drug addiction, which Salomone said fueled his involvement in the death of Baca.

According to an affidavit in the case, Baca was traveling with a man from New Mexico to Montana when the man was pulled over on July 20, 2022, in Morgan County and arrested on outstanding warrants.

The man told police after Baca's death that he had left Baca with $20,000 in cash, two handguns, his cellphone and his car and told her to take care of herself until he could get out of custody.

Moore told police that Baca reached out to Hobirk and offered him $2,000 to help get her back to New Mexico, and that Hobirk reached out to Moore for help. Moore said he, Provine, Hobirk and Hobirk's girlfriend Griffin all left for Colorado in his truck on July 23, 2022, and met with Baca at a hotel in Fort Morgan.

Hobirk testified that Moore planned on killing Baca for her drugs and money, and drove the group up to Flagstaff Mountain where he shot Baca and had Hobirk help with dumping the body.