In the late afternoon of May 23, 2022, a grim discovery was made in a garage in Pueblo, Colorado, setting in motion a homicide investigation. The body of 51-year-old Anthony Ray Valdez, a male resident of Pueblo, was found in a garage in the 1500 block of N. Lacrosse Avenue. Initially, the call came in as a suspicious death, but it soon became clear that foul play was involved.
The Pueblo County Coroner's Office confirmed that Valdez had sustained an apparent gunshot wound and was
pronounced dead at the scene. With this determination, the Pueblo Police Department officially launched a homicide investigation into the death of Anthony Ray Valdez. The case quickly evolved as detectives began to piece together the events leading to Valdez's death.
A significant break in the case came the following evening when police detained a suspect after a foot chase along Fountain Creek. The individual taken into custody was identified as 36-year-old James Matthew Tafoya. He now faces a multitude of serious charges, including first-degree murder, prohibited use of a weapon, and vehicular eluding. While an arrest has been made, the police have continued to ask the public for any information regarding the incident as their investigation remains ongoing to bring closure to the family of Anthony Ray Valdez.
