A Colorado resident, Clemente Flores-Hernandez, 45, has been sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree assault by strangulation. The Denver District Attorney’s Office confirmed this in a recent press release. The court dropped several other charges against Flores-Hernandez.
The sentencing comes two years after the fatal incident. Flores-Hernandez was sentenced to 48 years for the murder charge and an additional 12 years for the assault charge. The judge ordered the sentences to run consecutively, resulting in a total of 60 years.
The incident occurred on the evening of February 24, 2023, when Flores-Hernandez entered a home on Durham Court and fired four shots at close range at Karol Bedoya, 44, who was watching television with her two-year-old grandson. Flores-Hernandez and Bedoya had been in a romantic relationship for a decade before the shooting. Bedoya, a mother of four, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the shooting, Denver Police Department officers discovered that the toddler had been taken by Flores-Hernandez. Bedoya’s adult son, who had been in the basement at the time of the shooting, confronted Flores-Hernandez, who was still armed. The two engaged in a physical altercation, during which Flores-Hernandez strangled the young man nearly to unconsciousness before fleeing with the toddler.
Despite his ordeal, Bedoya’s son was able to assist law enforcement in locating Flores-Hernandez. A high-speed chase ensued along Interstate 70, ending when Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Colorado State Patrol troopers used tire-deflation devices to stop the fleeing vehicle. Flores-Hernandez was apprehended near Strasburg, a small town about 30 miles east of Denver.
The toddler was found safe and unharmed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Bedoya’s brother-in-law told local media that there had been warning signs, but they were not recognized in time. Bedoya, described as a devoted “soccer mom,” had expressed her unhappiness and desire for Flores-Hernandez to leave just a week before her death.
Denver District Attorney John Walsh expressed hope that the guilty plea and sentence would provide some comfort to Bedoya’s family and friends. He also noted that Bedoya’s murder serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of domestic violence on communities and families.
In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped several charges against Flores-Hernandez, including first-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault by strangulation, kidnapping, vehicular eluding, and child abuse.