Good Samaritan killed breaking up teen fight, CO officials say. Man convicted
A man is facing decades in prison after a jury convicted him of fatally shooting a good Samaritan trying to intervene in a fight, Colorado officials said.
Trahavonie Smith, now 27, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2022 killing of Garry Arellano, the Denver District Attorney’s Office said in an April 21 news release.
He also was convicted of unlawful possession of a large capacity magazine, prosecutors said.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced in July and faces as many as 48 years behind bars, prosecutors said.
Defense attorney information for Smith wasn’t immediately available April 23.
Arellano, 63, tried “to break up a fight between two teenage girls in La-Alma-Lincoln Park” in Denver on April 27, 2022, when he was killed, prosecutors said.
“One of the girls was Smith’s girlfriend,” prosecutors said.
For Arellano’s family, the park was a meaningful place, a relative wrote on a GoFundMe page after the shooting.
“Many memories were made at this park and will continue for current and future generations,” April McGwier wrote, adding that Arellano “visited consistently with friends and family for over 40 years.”
She said Arellano’s “heart and soul created a path of compassion, thoughtfulness, integrity, strength, and many admirable core characteristics” and “he provided the pathway to a blueprint for living with love, courtesy, respect, and manners.”
Loved ones eventually dedicated a bench at the park in his honor, Denver 7 reported.
In the news release, District Attorney John Walsh said Arellano was “doing the right thing” when he was killed and called his death “a senseless tragedy.”
“Today’s verdict ensures that Trahavonie Smith will be held accountable for his needless decision to shoot and kill Garry. We hope that all those who knew and loved Garry now have a measure of comfort that justice has been served,” Walsh said.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 9:46 AM with the headline "Good Samaritan killed breaking up teen fight, CO officials say. Man convicted."
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