A 32-year-old man, Richard Martinez, tragically lost his life in a shooting on the evening of November 16, 2015, in Pueblo, Colorado. The incident occurred in the 1700 block of East Eighth Street, where police were dispatched following reports of gunfire. Upon their arrival, officers discovered Martinez inside a vehicle, suffering from a gunshot wound.
He was immediately transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Initial investigations by the Pueblo Police Department revealed that the shooting was not a random act of violence. Detectives quickly identified a person of interest, Charles 'Chuck' Stiver, a 33-year-old man from the Denver area. The investigation into Stiver's involvement progressed rapidly, and within days, a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of first-degree murder.
The search for Stiver concluded on November 19, 2015, when members of the Denver Police Department's Fugitive Location and Apprehension Team, acting on information provided by Pueblo police, located and arrested him in Denver. He was taken into custody without incident and was subsequently transferred to Pueblo to face the charges against him. The arrest brought a swift, though not final, resolution to the initial phase of the investigation into Richard Martinez's untimely death.
Following his arrest, Charles Stiver was tried for the murder of Richard Martinez. After hearing the evidence presented by the prosecution and the defense, a jury found Stiver guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. In a subsequent hearing, he was sentenced to 40 years in the Department of Corrections for his role in the death of Richard Martinez, bringing a measure of closure to a case that had begun with a fatal act of violence on a Pueblo street.
