GREELEY, Colo. (KDVR) — It has been a week since a young woman was shot and killed in her Greeley home. It happened around 6:30 a.m., according to Greeley Police.
Joaquin Mininger, her father, said the two of them had lived in the house for two years. His daughter, Sierra, had broken up with her boyfriend of four years about six months before.
Then, that morning, Mininger said he awoke to a banging on his door. He opened it to find Sierra’s ex-boyfriend.
“He was yelling, ‘Sierra, Sierra’,” Mininger said.
He rushed to her bedroom and found her lying on the bed. Mininger called the Greeley Police Department and when they arrived, officers summoned emergency medical services while providing life-saving measures to the gunshot victim.
She was taken to the hospital where she later died.
“It still hasn’t set in. You know, as a single father, raised all three of my kids, and it’s a worst nightmare to see,” Mininger said. “It’s going to be hard, you know, not being able to talk to her and say, ‘good morning’, ‘good night’, ‘I love you’.”
The suspect in this incident was identified as Gabriel Esparza, 23. He was booked into the Weld County Jail on charges of first-degree murder, possession of a weapon by a previous offender and domestic violence.
Mininger said now he is focused on finding justice for his daughter and helping others who may find themselves in abusive or domestic violence situations.
“Reach out. There’s places, you know, there’s organizations or even just a friend,” Mininger said. “Get out of those domestic violence situations because this is what happens in the end. Nobody deserves it.”
