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Mother Is Charged In Mistaken Child Molester Shooting
Affidavit: Tarrara Garcia Believed Intended Target Molested Her Son
POSTED: 12:25 am MST January 10, 2012
UPDATED: 12:52 am MST January 10, 2012
GREELEY, Colo. -- Prosecutors have filed two counts of attempted murder against a Greeley woman accused of shooting one man and firing 27 bullets at another man whom police believe was her intended target.
The Greeley Tribune reported that 25-year-old Tarrara Garcia will also face two sentence enhancers of committing a violent crime using a weapon.
It started when a grandmother called Greeley Police on Christmas night and said her grandson had been sexually assaulted.
A police officer said he took the boy and his mother to the Medical Center of the Rockies for an exam. The officer said on the way to the hospital, Garcia asked if she could borrow his duty rifle "because she wanted to go shoot the person who touched her son," according to the incident report obtained by 7NEWS.
The shooting happened four days later at an apartment in Kersey. Investigators said Garcia suspected her intended target had sexually assaulted her son on Dec. 25. That man, who has denied the allegations, was not hurt, but 51-year-old John Collins was shot in the leg and hip.
Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez confirmed the intended victim was in the apartment at the time of the shooting, but was not hurt. Three other adults and three children were also in the apartment -- but no one else was hurt by the spray of gunfire.
The intended target told investigators he was in a chair next to the victim who was shot. He told police when the shooting started, he ran to the kitchen.
"The investigation revealed Garcia was handling justice on her own in regards to a sex assault incident that was reported to Greeley Police Department four days prior to the shooting," said Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez.
Garcia's friend, Khanh Tran, of Commerce City, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to a crime. Tran told police Garcia called him on Dec. 29 and asked him to meet her. Tran told police he felt Garcia was going to go stab the person accused of sexually assaulting her son, according to the incident report.
Garcia asked Tran to wait for her, and when she returned, Tran said she had a gun with her and that she said she "saw him through the window and 'shot him,' " according to the incident report.
Tran said when Garcia went to bed, he took the rifle, magazine and ammunition and put them in trash bins.
Tran is free on bond. Garcia remains jailed under a $500,000 bond.
The Greeley Tribune reported that 25-year-old Tarrara Garcia will also face two sentence enhancers of committing a violent crime using a weapon.
It started when a grandmother called Greeley Police on Christmas night and said her grandson had been sexually assaulted.
A police officer said he took the boy and his mother to the Medical Center of the Rockies for an exam. The officer said on the way to the hospital, Garcia asked if she could borrow his duty rifle "because she wanted to go shoot the person who touched her son," according to the incident report obtained by 7NEWS.
The shooting happened four days later at an apartment in Kersey. Investigators said Garcia suspected her intended target had sexually assaulted her son on Dec. 25. That man, who has denied the allegations, was not hurt, but 51-year-old John Collins was shot in the leg and hip.
Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez confirmed the intended victim was in the apartment at the time of the shooting, but was not hurt. Three other adults and three children were also in the apartment -- but no one else was hurt by the spray of gunfire.
The intended target told investigators he was in a chair next to the victim who was shot. He told police when the shooting started, he ran to the kitchen.
"The investigation revealed Garcia was handling justice on her own in regards to a sex assault incident that was reported to Greeley Police Department four days prior to the shooting," said Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez.
Garcia's friend, Khanh Tran, of Commerce City, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to a crime. Tran told police Garcia called him on Dec. 29 and asked him to meet her. Tran told police he felt Garcia was going to go stab the person accused of sexually assaulting her son, according to the incident report.
Garcia asked Tran to wait for her, and when she returned, Tran said she had a gun with her and that she said she "saw him through the window and 'shot him,' " according to the incident report.
Tran said when Garcia went to bed, he took the rifle, magazine and ammunition and put them in trash bins.
Tran is free on bond. Garcia remains jailed under a $500,000 bond.