Updated at 1:06 p.m. on Sept. 15, 2023.
Denver and Black Hawk Police have arrested 31-year-old Tanner Fielder in the shooting deaths of two people experiencing homelessness, according to a statement from the Denver Police.
Fielder was captured in Black Hawk on Thursday by both Black Hawk and Denver police officers.
He is being held on two first-degree murder charges, though the District Attorney's office will determine the final charges.
Investigators are still working to determine his motives.
"It sounds like so farfetched," his mother, Rochelle Fielder, told Denverite on Friday. "I can't fathom that he would have anything to do with that."
Fielder previously lived in Bennett with his mother, but she was not sure where he was living now.
"To my knowledge, I've never heard him talk about going to that area," she said. "I mean, it just seems very, very hard to believe."
The first shooting, of 31-year-old Lluvia Robles-Banuelos, occurred around 12:25 on Sept. 6, on the South Platte River Trail, under Interstate 70.
The second shooting, of Jeremy Hutchenson, took place around 12:36 a.m. on Sept. 9, on the trail, near the intersection of South Platte River Dr. and W. Flordia Ave.
Then, on Sept. 12, a Denver Police officer, who was patrolling the South Platte River Trail, heard shots fired near W. 13th. Ave. and N. Zuni St. The officer rushed toward where the shots were coming from and saw an individual fleeing. Police set up a perimeter, but did not catch the suspect.
Detectives and officers investigated the scene, gathered evidence left by the suspect, and gave it to the Denver Police Crime Laboratory. Forensic scientists determined the incident on Sept. 12 was related to the two previous homicides, and they identified the suspect as Fielder.
According to his mother, Fielder was in a diversion program related to a July 2022 case in Arapahoe County, in which he was arrested for damaging property and criminal mischief. She also said Fielder did not do drugs or have access to firearms.
In Nov. 2018, she filed for a protection order against her son, writing that he "became outraged & out of control when I would not fund his addiction playing poker online with a credit card." She also wrote to the court that he "is bipolar & may other diagnoses (sic) & will not get help, or take meds. He is a danger to himself & me. He needs help. He is not of right mind."
Then, in Feb. 2021, Rochelle filed to dismiss the protection order writing, "my son is mentally ill and is requiring treatment. I am the only family he has."
"He was very, very conscientious to make sure he did not get into trouble," she said in an interview with Denverite.
