Police: Woman found dead in home where fire was reported is homicide victim

The Pueblo Police Department says a report of a fire led to a homicide investigation Wednesday morning.

The call for help came from the 600 block of Moffat Ave., which is between I-25 and Runyon Lake just north of the Arkansas River.

Police say a 77-year-old woman was found dead inside a house. Firefighters said the circumstances looked suspicious, so they called police.

Loved ones identified the victim as Susan Hernandez. Her death was ruled a homicide on Thursday. Hernandez’s daughter first realized something was wrong Wednesday when her mother didn’t answer the phone. So she drove to the house to check on her.

“The house was filled with smoke, I don’t want to say how I found her. God wanted me to find my mother,” said Katrina Livecchi, the victim’s daughter.

Her family stayed out by the house all day Thursday, hoping investigators would tell them new information.

“Our mother didn’t deserve this, our mother was a good mother, a good grandmother. She loved all of her kids, her grandkids,” said another one of Hernandez’s daughters.

They hope someone will come forward with some information.

“She would do anything for anybody. She was just that type of woman,” said Joe Martinez, the victim’s friend.

“She was a very well-known lady. She was kind. Sweetheart. She was always working in her yard,” said Arlene Jasper, Hernandez’s neighbor.

Neighbors say Hernandez lived alone, her husband passed away in January 2015. They described her as a loving mother of seven children, all of whom grew up in that Pueblo house.