OTERO COUNTY, CO – A jury has convicted former Rocky Ford police officer James Ashby of second degree murder in the death of Jack Jacquez. He will be sentenced on Friday, September 23 at 9 a.m. at the Otero County Courthouse. He faces up to 48 years in prison.
After nearly 11 hours of deliberating, the jury reached the guilty verdict on Thursday, the 10th day of the trial.
It was an emotional day for everyone involved. The moment the judge read the verdict, gasps filled the courtroom and the victim’s family burst into tears.
Once the verdict was read, Ashby was immediately put in handcuffs and taken into custody of the Otero County Sheriff’s Office. He sat tall and stayed silent as the verdict was read.
A few of the jury members were visibly nervous however, holding hands just as the verdict was read.
Ashby has been convicted of shooting and killing 27-year-old Jack Jacquez in the back at his mother’s home. This happened in October of 2014 while Ashby was on duty.
A case that has now dragged on for nearly two years, Jacquez’s father says this guilty verdict will help to bring his family closure.
“It will bring us some peace, and most of all, it’s not even for my family, it’s justice for my son, our son, my wives, my son, my daughter, his friends, his children,” Jack Jacquez Sr. said.
The prosecution says this verdict will help the community of Rocky Ford begin to heal.
“This is not a win for anyone, this is a tragedy, it’s been a tragedy for our community, and it continues to be a tragedy and we hope now that we’re in a situation where can our community can move forward and start to rebuild,” James Bullock, Otero County District Attorney said.
In the meantime, an appeal is anticipated to be filed by the defense.
Investigators say Ashby first made contact with 27-year-old Jack Jacquez in October of 2014 while Jacquez was skateboarding down Highway 50.
Ashby said there was an exchange of words before Jacquez darted off into his mother’s home. Ashby is accused of shooting and killing Jacquez in the house but he says he thought he was a burglar and was acting in self defense.
Ashby shocked the courtroom by breaking his silence and taking the stand in his own trial on Monday.
Before that, on the people’s side, jurors heard another eye-witness account of the shooting from Jacquez’s own mother who was there when the shots were fired.
The prosecution ended their closing statements on Wednesday morning before turning the case over to jurors by presenting a specific statement from Ashby’s official interview with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation after the shooting which said, “I had already had it in my mind that I was going to shoot him before I even reached my gun.”
Source: KOAA News 5. See more at KOAA.com.
