Otero County family seek answers in wife’s ‘accidental’ death

LA JUNTA, Colo. (KRDO) -- Was it just an accident or was it an intentional killing? That’s a question the family of Wendy Schneider has been asking for more than a year.

Schneider was shot and killed at her home in Rocky Ford back in December of 2018. Her husband, Justin Schneider, faces two felony charges connected to her death, but not for murder.

Justin Schneider was in an Otero County District Courtroom Thursday afternoon for a brief motions hearing. Neither of his felony charges, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, accuse the husband of intending to cause harm to his wife. However, Wendy's family believes the charges don’t properly reflect the crime.

Rylea Howe, Wendy's daughter, says it has been impossible for her family to grieve this last year because of the lack of information from the investigation, the case, and the District Attorney's Office.

“We don't know what’s going, we don’t know who to talk to in order to find out what’s going on,” said Howe outside of the Otero County Courthouse. "What even happened that day? There are so many conflicting stories."

Howe lived with her mother and stepfather at the time of the shooting, but she wasn't home when it occurred. She says her mom wanted out of the relationship.

Rocky Ford police officers were called to this home on the 1700 block of Swink Avenue, December 22nd 2018 on a call for an accidental shooting. Wendy Schneider was taken to Parkview Medical in Pueblo, where she died one week later.

In January, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations opened a case to look into the shooting. Six months later on July 8, Justin Schneider was summoned to the Otero County courthouse.

Justin Schneider was formally charged with the two felonies on July 8. The Rocky Ford man was never arrested for either felony charge. Instead, he was issued a court summons, which isn't common for felonies that are class 4 and above.

Howe is convinced her mother's death was no accident.

“He knew not to point a loaded firearm at somebody. He knew that, he taught me that," said Howe. "He knew better.”

Howe says prosecutors told her family that they have offered Schneider's defense a plea deal. According to Howe, Schneider would plead guilty to the negligent homicide charge and the DA's office would drop the manslaughter charge.

Howe fears her stepfather could walk away from this case without serving any time in jail or prison, and her mother’s life will be forgotten.

“We can’t actively start the healing process because we’ve been holding our breath this whole time.”

Justin Schneider and his attorney declined to speak after Thursday’s hearing.

KRDO attempted to obtain a probable cause statement or affidavit outlining the evidence and testimony gathered by investigators that lead to Schneider's charge. The document should be public information unless a judge orders the documents to be sealed.

However, for some unknown reason, the District Attorney's Office in Otero County has not made those documents public. No motion to seal any documents has been ruled on, either.

The DA and prosecutor assigned to the Schneider case are both out of town and were unavailable. The prosecutor present at Thursday's hearing declined to answer KRDO's questions.

The next hearing is scheduled for later this month.