Colo. man charged in slaying of Army captain from Santa Fe
Suspect held without bond on first-degree murder charge
Police have charged a Colorado Springs, Colo., man in the September slaying of a 28-year-old U.S. Army captain from Santa Fe who was found fatally shot near an intersection east of the city’s downtown area.
Gilberto Chavez Jr., 27, who was already jailed on unrelated charges, faces a count of first-degree murder in Army Capt. Daniel Chamberlain Lehman’s slaying, the Colorado Springs Police Department announced Friday in a Facebook post. Chavez is being held without bond in the El Paso County, Colo., jail.
Police found Lehman’s body at the end of a trail of blood around 7 a.m. Sept. 15. But they believe he was shot about five hours earlier and two blocks away.
There was no other information about the arrest and no new details on Lehman’s death in the Friday post, and the department’s spokesman, Lt. Howard Black, did not return a call to comment on the case.
KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs reported that an affidavit for an arrest warrant says police believe Chavez was high on methamphetamine and thought someone was following him that night when he pulled out a gun and shot Lehman, who had just left a downtown bar.
A break in the case came when an anonymous tipster called Crime Stoppers, saying Chavez had shot Lehman and then fled to California, the TV station reported.
Lehman’s father, photographer Danny Lehman of Santa Fe, said Saturday he was pleased with how the Colorado Police Department has handled the investigation into his son’s death. “They seemed to be very diligent in trying to solve this issue so it doesn’t happen to somebody else.”
Later, Danny Lehman said, “It’s over for us, but I don’t want other people to have to go through this.”
He called his son’s homicide “a senseless act.”
Reached by email Saturday, Daniel Chamberlain Lehman’s mother, Laurie Lehman, declined to comment.
Born in Los Angeles, Lehman grew up in Santa Fe. He graduated from St. Michael’s High School in 2008 and attended the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., graduating in 2012 with a double major in nuclear physics and philosophy.
Lehman served in Afghanistan in 2013 and rose through the ranks to become a captain.
He was living in Colorado Springs while stationed with the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team at nearby Fort Carson.
In the days after his death, his mother described him as a person who “cared deeply about people and about freedom.”
His father on Saturday said his son was brilliant. “He loved to learn and it reflected in his speaking a number of different languages and excelling in physics.”
More than that, his father said, Daniel Chamberlain Lehman wanted to learn about the people he would be addressing on his missions, both allies and adversaries. He wanted to know their languages and their religions and understand their cultures.
“He saw racism as a lazy way of dealing with other people,” Danny Lehman said. “He saw people as individuals, not as groups. That’s what I admired about him.”
“I’m sure going to miss him,” the father said, adding that he believes his son was just the type of leader the military needed.
“Everybody lost on this one,” he said.
The death was a blow to Capt. Lehman’s parents, who lost a younger son about five years ago to an accidental death in Alaska. Jonathan Giles Lehman was 21 when he died.
As a child in Santa Fe, Daniel Chamberlain Lehman was known for his volunteer service at local libraries and at El Castillo, a retirement home, where he served juice and cookies to residents and engaged in chess games. In 2002, when he was 12, he was selected as one of the Santa Fe New Mexican’s 10 Who Made a Difference.
He was an honor student at St. Michael’s and spent a year in China as an exchange student. His mother said he came back fluent in Mandarin.
Lehman’s death remains under investigation, Colorado Springs police said in the Facebook post.
The agency asks anyone with information about the shooting or who might have witnessed the crime to call the department at 719-444-7000 or the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 719-634-STOP or 800-222-8477.