Man tells police he fatally shot victim for hitting his kids

March 22, 2011

A Rio Arriba County man turned himself in after deputies say he admitted to shooting and killing an Espanola man for allegedly abusing his kids. Orlando Trujillo has been charged with an open count of murder. Around 11:30 a.m. Monday morning, Trujillo told deputies that he had gone to confront a man about allegations of child abuse near La Mesilla. According to the complaint, Trujillo told police that the victim, Jeff Garcia admitted to hitting Trujillo's two children, saying "Yeah, I hit your kids! What are you going to do about it?" Trujillo told investigators at that point he pulled a gun out of his care and shot Garcia in the chest.