In the small town of Moffat, Colorado, the life of 57-year-old Tracy Joe Freel came to an abrupt and violent end on June 21, 2022. On what was supposed to be the start of a new chapter in his life, as he planned to move to Aztec, Freel found himself in the middle of a domestic dispute. He chose to intervene to protect a woman involved in the altercation, a decision that tragically cost him his life.
That evening, the Saguache County Sheriff's Office received a dispatch call to a
residence in Moffat. Upon their arrival, they discovered Tracy Freel with a life-threatening gunshot wound to his upper thigh. Despite the efforts to save him, he succumbed to his injuries while on the way to the hospital. His death was the result of gun violence, an act that cut short the life of a man described as funny, quirky, and happy-go-lucky.
Following the shooting, a suspect identified as Kenneth Mendenhall Jr. was apprehended in Poncha Springs later that same night. The Saguache County Sheriff's Office took Mendenhall into custody, and he was subsequently held at the Saguache County Jail. He faced multiple serious charges, including first-degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and child abuse, bringing a swift, though somber, development to the investigation of Tracy Joe Freel's untimely death.
