A former Airman stationed at Buckley Air Force base has been sentenced to four years in prison for accidentally shooting and killing his wife.
Brian Lebron-Rivera
Arapahoe District Judge Phillip Douglass sentenced Brian Lebron-Rivera, 23, to four years in the Department of Corrections followed by three years of parole for the death of Genesis Rodriquez, 20. Lebron-Rivera had pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter, a Class 4 felony, on Feb. 23.
“There is no indication this death was the result of anything other than a terrible and reckless accident. Anyone trained in using firearms knows you don’t point a gun at anyone,” Douglass told Lebron-Rivera. “It’s a huge responsibility to bear arms. … It’s important that when that right is abused, we address it.”
On Aug. 25, 2016, Lebron-Rivera called Arapahoe County Sheriff’s dispatchers to the Bristol Village Apartments at 17103 E Ohio Place. He said he had shot his wife and she was dead.
Arriving deputies found Rodriquez on the floor of the apartment with a gunshot wound to the head.
She was shot once, near her eye. She was pronounced dead at Medical Center of Aurora.
Lebron-Rivera told investigators he had been training his wife how to react if someone had a weapon. He was member of the security forces unit stationed at Buckley.
“He pointed a gun at his wife and pulled the trigger. This is a person trained in the use of firearms,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Gary Dawson said during sentencing. “This could have been prevented entirely simply by not pointing a gun at someone.”
District Attorney George Brauchler agreed it was a tragic case that called for incarceration.
“Being reckless with a football or baseball leads to a bruise or broken window. Being reckless with a gun leads to death and here, incarceration,” he said. “Whatever training the military provided was lost or ignored. On purpose or accident, guns kill. They are not toys.”