Jury fails to reach verdict in trial for former LaSalle officer charged with 2nd-degree murder

Erik Hernandez was charged after he shot Juston Reffel at a Family Dollar store in May 2023 on his third day of working at the department.

WELD COUNTY, Colo. — After two days of deliberations, jurors in Weld County failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a former LaSalle officer who was charged in connection with a deadly shooting that occurred while he was on duty last year.

A grand jury charged Erik Hernandez with one count of second-degree murder after he shot Juston Reffel in the parking lot of the town’s Family Dollar store on May 3, 2023.

His trial began on Oct. 21 and the jury got the case late on Oct. 30. Two days later, on Nov. 1, a mistrial was declared, according to court records. The means the jurors could not reach a consensus.

Hernandez was on his third day with the department and was training with veteran LaSalle Police Officer Sam Johnson. The pair saw what they determined to be a suspicious vehicle parked at the store at 165 S. 2nd St.

The Dodge Magnum had been backed into a parking spot, was double-parked and had recently been painted unprofessionally, a criminal indictment said. There was no record for the out-of-state plates that were on the car.

Hernandez initially suggested either towing the car or placing a warning sticker in its window. Johnson suggested boxing the Magnum in with their cruiser and going into the store.

“A roller paint job on that car? With that headlight? That’s suspicious,” Johnson can be heard on the body camera video saying. “You have every reason to start questioning somebody about that.”

The officers spoke with the store’s employees, who said no one who worked there drove the car, according to the indictment. Hernandez and Johnson began walking down an aisle, looking for the Magnum’s driver, the indictment says.

Reffel and two other people were in the back of the store, and when Reffel saw the officers approaching, he walked to the emergency exit and pressed on the door, which set off the store’s alarm, the indictment says. Reffel then ran toward the front of the store, according to the indictment.

Hernandez and Johnson went to the emergency exit and looked outside. When they didn’t see anyone, they ran back through the store and out into the parking lot.

Hernandez yelled at Reffel to get out of the car as Reffel put it into reverse and backed up several feet, the indictment says. Reffel put the car into drive and began to pull out of the parking spots. Hernandez then fired four rounds, the video shows.

Court records show a status conference in the case is set for Nov. 7. It’s not clear yet whether prosecutors will pursue a second trial.