Arrest made in homicide believed to be connected to large homeless camp fire in rural El Paso County
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The El Paso County Sheriff's Office arrested a man accused of stabbing someone after a large fire in a homeless camp.
Monday at 2 a.m., the deputies, the Stratmoor Fire Department, and numerous other fire agencies responded to a large fire in a homeless camp near B Street in unincorporated El Paso County.
At the scene, investigators found several RVs and other motor vehicles engulfed in flames.
According to the sheriff's office, numerous residents of the homeless camp identified a man they believed to be responsible for the fire.
That man, however, wasn't at the scene anymore.
Later that morning, the Sheriff's Office Communications Center received reports of a man who appeared to have been shot behind a business just before 6:30 a.m. This was a short distance away from where the homeless camp fire happened.
At the scene, deputies found a man with at least one stab wound to his chest. Despite performing life-saving measures, the man died at the scene.
According to the sheriff's office, this man was the same person described to be the same person witness reported for setting the fire. The El Paso County Coroner's Office identified him as 49-year-old Jose Delgado-Diaz.
During the initial investigation, multiple witnesses were interviewed and a person of interest was identified.
The sheriff's office said 64-year-old Gregory Paul Lee was arrested and booked into the El Paso County Jail on Oct. 12 for the charge of First Degree Murder.
