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Officer Knocked Phone From Victim's Mother's Hand As She Tried Calling 911, Sources Say

ROCKY FORD, Colo. (CBS4) - The police officer accused of murdering a Rocky Ford resident in October slapped a phone from the victim's mother's hand when she tried calling 911 after the shooting, people close to family told CBS4.

James Ashby, 41, shot and killed Jack Jacquez Jr., 27, on Oct. 12, the district attorney's office said, after Jacquez entered his home about 2:30 a.m.

Rocky Ford 2 Jack Jacquez Jr.
Jack Jacquez Jr. (courtesy to CBS)
James Ashby
James Ashby (credit: Otero County Sheriff's Office)

Ashby was arrested and charged on Nov. 14 on second-degree murder charges. The arrest affidavit and other documents in the case have been sealed, so it's unclear what led to the charges and what occurred during the shooting.

But family members say Jacquez carried his skateboard into his home the night of the shooting. His mother and fiancé were in the home.

"All I know is my son was shot and in the back, allegedly coming home from babysitting," the victim's father, Jack Jacquez Sr., said.

Two people who spoke with family members told CBS4 they believe after Ashby shot Jacquez, the victim's mother reached for a phone to call 911. But Ashby knocked it from her hand, they said. Her son was then maced or pepper-sprayed, according to different accounts.

"He was shot in the back in his home in his own home, and I don't believe Ashby had a reason to be there. There was no call for disturbance," Jacquez said. "There was no reason to be there for a warrant. He had no warrant to be served."

The district attorney has only told the media to attend Ashby's preliminary hearing on Dec. 22.

There are similarities with the police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, where unarmed Michael Brown, 18, was shot to death by a police officer in the suburban St. Louis town. The "hands up, don't shoot" slogan that originated in Ferguson after Brown's death has been adopted in the Rocky Ford case. There have been calls for calm.

"We can't break and stumble and fall and have people start fighting in the streets and tearing down the buildings," Jackie Jacquez Lindenmuth, the victim's sister, said.

The family told KKTV they might seek civil action against the police department.

The judge in the case lowered Ashby's bond from $500,000 to $150,000 earlier this month.

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