The 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that a Montezuma County woman likely will face a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband, who was found “alive and bleeding” near a recreation area north of Cortez on May 2.
Joyce Garcia, 52, was investigated after reporting that her husband, 57-year-old Alfredo Garcia, was missing May 2.
Deputies from the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office responded to Joyce Garcia’s call, according to an affidavit. Law enforcement requested GPS information for her husband’s phone because of his medical conditions related to West Nile virus he contracted in 2016.
Alfredo Garcia was found “alive and bleeding” near Bradfield Bridge on Forest Service Road 521 in Dolores County, according to a news release from the District Attorney’s office. He was transported to Mercy Regional Medical Center by helicopter.
At the hospital, it was determined that he had two gunshot wounds to his head. He was flown to Saint Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado. He died from his wounds several days later, the affidavit stated.
At the couple’s residence, a black Dodge Journey was found with a broken window, damage to the front fender, and “dust inside the vehicle on all seats but the driver’s seat,” the affidavit said.
Detective John Haynes of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office talked to Joyce Garcia, who said that she had consumed six to eight beers that evening before passing out while watching movies with her husband. When she woke up, she couldn’t find her husband, so she called 911.
A tire tread similar to the tread of the Dodge Journey was found near Forest Service Road 521, close to where Garcia was found.
Garcia told detectives that there were no firearms in the residence. Her son, Conor Donohue, informed detectives that the couple owned a .357 revolver, and that his mother had shot one of their dogs two weeks prior at the location her husband was found bleeding, the affidavit stated.
A deceased dog was found near Alfred Garcia on Forest Service Road 521. When asked about the dog, Joyce Garcia first told detectives that she slit the dog’s throat with a knife. In a later interview with Colorado Bureau of Investigation, she admitted to owning the gun and using it to shoot the dog, according to the affidavit.
During this interview, Garcia told detectives that she did not know what happened to her husband, and doesn’t remember if she looked for the car in the driveway while trying to find her husband at the residence. She also couldn’t remember if she called her husband during this time.
On May 22, Donohue contacted authorities to report that his mother admitted to shooting her husband. She reportedly told her son that her husband “had asked her to because of his health condition,” the affidavit reported. Garcia left the residence while her son was reporting her to authorities.
On May 23, Garcia returned to the residence. Montezuma County Sheriff’s officers “began watching,” and Donohue came out of the residence shortly after. He told police that his mother “potentially made an attempt on her life,” and she told him “I would rather die than go to prison,” the affidavit stated.
Garcia was found with lacerations to her wrist, for which she received medical treatment.
Present for the arrest, Sheriff Steve Nowlin confirmed that the couple resided north of Cortez, within Montezuma County.
The incident was investigated by the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and CBI, with assistance from the Dolores County Sheriff’s Office and the Cortez Police Department.
District Attorney Christian Hatfield is expected to file the first-degree murder charges later this month.
