Anonymous tips and witness statements led to the arrest of a Westminster man in the fatal shooting of Christopher Trujillo in December.
Ralph Lee Sanders, 31, allegedly shot and killed Trujillo at Mountain View Cemetery on the south side of Pueblo on Dec. 4. Police also suspect Sanders may have been involved in several other violent crimes that took place in December.
Witnesses to the Dec. 4 shooting said that a man named “Ace,” whom police identified as Sanders, had shot Trujillo from the driver’s seat of his vehicle near the entrance of the cemetery that evening, according to a Pueblo Police Department arrest affidavit.
Police say Trujillo was with two friends when Sanders pulled up to the cemetery in a white Jeep. Trujillo and his friends initially believed it was someone they’d called for a ride. The three approached the vehicle, and the driver allegedly told Trujillo’s two friends “not you, just (Trujillo).” A friend of Trujillo’s stated he was confused and Sanders drove off.
However, the witnesses said Sanders returned a short time later and Trujillo approached the vehicle along with one witness. Trujillo was standing in front of the open driver’s side window when the driver, the sole occupant of the vehicle, allegedly fired a shot. The shot mortally wounded Trujillo, according to the affidavit.