Police Kill Man In Greeley

It was difficult to watch this story unfold. The apartment complex where they shot Jimmy Trevino, while he was hiding in a trash can was where my mom lived back in the early 80's. I wish I could say that "shoot first..." comes as a surprise. But it doesn't.

Not down on First Avenue.

A 22-year-old man shot and killed by Greeley police Wednesday had two small children but also was a gang member with the street name of "Psycho" and the words "SOUTH SIDE" tattooed on his forehead.

The man was identified by police as Jimmy Joe Trevino of Greeley. He had a lengthy criminal record, including arrests for domestic violence, escape, assault, theft, and for not paying child support.

Police said he was in the gang files as a "violent gang member," and he recently cut off the parole department's monitor that was attached to his ankle. He was most recently arrested Jan. 26 on charges of parole violation and third-degree assault then released from jail June 12, according to Weld County Jail records.

Court records show arrests back to 1997, when Trevino was 12 years old. He spent four years in the Colorado State Penitentiary on a charge of escape.

The incident that finally ended in Trevino's death apparently began at his sister's apartment early in the morning Wednesday. There is some confusion about what happened, because police said Wednesday that Trevino held a gun to his wife Veronica Trevino's head, but the call to police dispatch indicated he held the gun to his sister's head.

A call from Veronica Trevino's brother shortly before 3 a.m., indicated Trevino at first threatened his sister with the gun, pointing it at her head, but a friend pushed the gun away. He then went to his wife's house, the brother told the dispatcher.

Neighbors and family members said that soon after Jimmy Trevino arrived at his wife's apartment, he became angry, and choked her and banged her head against the wall.

He apparently left the apartment at that time, and Veronica Trevino called her brother from a neighbor's phone. Her mother, Janet Nava, said her daughter tried to calm her husband down, but he left the apartment very angry.

"He took her cell phone with him when he left," Nava said. "He may have had a gun, but the bullets were in his pocket."

Responding to the brother's call, police arrived after Jimmy Trevino walked out. They were told he could be armed with the gun he used to threaten his sister. As police officers were taking reports, he returned to the complex, saw the police and ran.

According to Weld District Attorney Ken Buck, at 3:17 a.m. Greeley police started to chase Jimmy Trevino on foot, and about two minutes later, shots were fired.

Jimmy Trevino died inside a trash Dumpster at 2500 1st Ave., which is the Catholic Charities Northern Plaza de Milagro apartment complex. Neither Buck nor Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said they could comment on whether Trevino had a gun when he was shot.

Greeley Tribune