‘Nobody wants to say anything,’ family of Pueblo homicide victim pleading for answers
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - Last week, a Pueblo man was found shot to death and left along the shores of Lake Minnequa, his family tells KRDO13, even grieving his loss has been difficult after discovering how his body was found.
The Pueblo County Coroner tells KRDO13 that the cause of death for 31-year-old Santana Lucero was likely from a shotgun bullet to the chest. His family says Lucero was not only shot but dumped in a shopping cart and left in the brush around the lake.
The Pueblo Police Department has yet to confirm those details.
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Lucero's mother says as his funeral approaches, she struggles to grasp that her son is no longer here.
"I want to mourn. I want to cry. I don't even know if I have the courage to go [on] Friday. I have to bury my son. I have to look at him in a casket. I can't even grasp myself. Like if he died of an overdose, I'd be okay with it. If he was shot up with heroin and died, you know? But they folded him up in a basket, carried him down the street, and threw him away, and nobody wants to say anything," says Lucero's Mother, Kimberly Bell.
The family admits that Lucero struggled with addiction and had a few run-ins with the law, but was working to beat addiction—he did not deserve this outcome.
"He stole stuff to get his drugs, but he never hurt anybody or shot anybody or did any kind of dirty stuff like that," says Bell.
Now, all Lucero's family is left with are pictures and memories.
"He always had something funny to say. He always had a way to bring us to laughter. Even in his darkest times, he was worried about me, you know?" said Bell.
"I've seen some really dark times with him, and I've seen some really, really good times with Santana. He was just always that person that was there to lift me up when the world put me down, you know?" said Michael Nieto, Lucero's cousin.
Lucero's family says they are now pleading with the public for help in finding the person or people responsible for the death of their loved one.
If anyone has information regarding this incident, they are encouraged to contact Detective Hector Herrera at (719) 601-7023. If you would like to remain anonymous, contact Pueblo Crime Stoppers at (719) 542-STOP (719-542-7867) or www.pueblocrimestoppers.com.
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