Police have arrested three people in the slaying of a Durango man who was shot Sunday in the Lightner Creek Mobile Home Park three miles west of Durango.
The victim was identified as David Antonio Gaytan, 34, said Dan Bender, spokesman for the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office. He was shot about 11:35 a.m. at a friend’s home at the mobile home park.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.
The suspects fled in a black Chevrolet Impala with Texas license plates. The Sheriff’s Office aired a description of the vehicle, including a partial license plate number, and a Colorado State Patrol identified a vehicle matching the description between 9 and 10 p.m. Sunday in Chaffee County, which includes Salida, about 200 miles northeast of Durango, Bender said.
Kevin Goff, 27, and Michael Jones, 19, both of Dallas; and Alysse Rios, 19, of Corsicana, Texas, which is about 58 miles south of downtown Dallas, were arrested.
All three were being held without bail on suspicion of first-degree murder. They will be transferred later this week to La Plata County, Bender said.
The Sheriff’s Office declined to discuss a possible motive in the shooting.
Phillip Clark, a friend and local mechanic who worked on Gaytan’s car, described Gaytan as a “joyful, happy person.”
“He’s always willing to help somebody in need,” Clark said. “He had a good heart.”
Efforts to reach a friend and neighbor Tuesday were unsuccessful.
shane@durangoherald.com
