Suspects in Storrie Lake shootings to remain jailed until trial
The two men accused of killing 16-year-old Adelina Tafoya and injuring two other teens in a July shooting will remain in custody at the San Miguel County Detention Center until trial.
Nico L. Barela, 30, was arrested July 24. Roger A. Tait-Gomez, 29, was arrested in the early-morning hours of July 28. Both men are charged with an open count of murder in the first degree and multiple other charges relating to the July 6 shooting.
Late last week, the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office filed motions asking the court to detain Barela and Tait-Gomez until trial, calling both men a danger to the community.
During a District Court hearing Wednesday, the DA’s office presented its arguments to have Tait-Gomez held until trial, citing that he fled the scene of the shooting, was on the run for 22 days and failed to surrender to police while hiding in his mother’s home.
That refusal to surrender began a nearly 5-hour standoff which ended after police deployed a tactical robot and fired tear gas into the home, according to the motion. Officers found Tait-Gomez hiding beneath the floor, under a trapdoor covered with a rug and a wheelchair.
Following Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Flora Gallegos ordered Tait-Gomez held without bond until trial.
During a July 30 hearing in District Court, Deputy District Attorney Tom Clayton argued to have Barela held on the grounds that he admitted to being at the scene of the shooting, fled the scene and is a convicted felon who is currently awaiting trial and was on house arrest at the time of the shooting.
Judge Abigail Aragon ordered Barela to be held without bond, and noted in the order that Barela had previously absconded while on parole for killing a motorcyclist in 2008, that he is a flight risk who has failed to appear for court 13 times and that Barela has a “likelihood of subsequent offense.”
Following his arrest, Tait-Gomez told police that he was with Barela the night of the shooting and that Barela received a phone call from a man named James Kent Muse who said two Hispanic men had robbed him, stealing $1,000 in cash and $300 worth of heroin.
Tait-Gomez and Barela went looking for the men who’d robbed Muse in Tait-Gomez’s silver Nissan Pathfinder, with Tait-Gomez behind the wheel and Barela in the passenger seat, according to court records.
When they spotted a black station wagon driving toward Storrie Lake State Park, they began following it believing that the people who’d robbed Muse were inside. However, the station wagon was filled with teens — ranging in age from 14 to 17 — and was driven by 16-year-old Tafoya.
Tait-Gomez told police that he and Barela were both armed, Barela with a 9mm and Tait-Gomez with a .40-caliber handgun. When the station wagon stopped near the entrance to Storrie Lake, Barela got out of the Pathfinder, Tait-Gomez said that’s when he heard shots. He then fired at the station wagon.
One of the shots fired at the station wagon struck Tafoya in the head. She later died. Sixteen-year-old Brianna Leyba was also shot in the head. She is still in a hospital recovering from her wounds, and may lose portions of her hearing and sight. A 15-year-old boy was shot in the arm, causing significant damage to the bone.
When investigators interviewed Barela, he admitted to being with Tait-Gomez that night, but denied shooting at the vehicle, telling police that Tait-Gomez was the only one who fired a weapon.
State Police recovered 15 fired bullet casings at the scene from both 9mm and .40-caliber rounds.
During a July 30 hearing, a motion was filed to remove public defender David Silva as Tait-Gomez’s attorney due to a potential conflict of interest. Silva currently represents Muse in a case from March where Muse is charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Because Muse could be called as a witness in the cases against Barela and Tait-Gomez, Silva withdrew from the case and Ray Floersheim will now represent Tait-Gomez. Barela is being represented by public defender Craig Acorn.
Barela is currently awaiting trial in two other cases. A trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 6 in a case where Barela is charged with forgery and concealing his identity; he will also face charges of possession of a controlled substance from a separate case at that trial. Herman Chico Gallegos has been appointed to represent Barela in those cases.
