Christopher Baeza Morales Obituary, Death – A man who was fatally shot on Sunday night after firing at a Sheriff’s deputy responding to a domestic violence call has been identified, with his autopsy scheduled for Thursday. On Wednesday, Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem confirmed the identity of the deceased as 55-year-old Christopher Baeza Morales. Wallem noted that the autopsy for Morales was set for Thursday due to a backlog of other autopsies already planned for the week.
Sheriff Scott Matheny stated on Wednesday that body camera footage from the incident revealed the deputy arriving and promptly exiting the vehicle, at which point a gunshot struck the driver’s side. “It occurred almost simultaneously,” Matheny remarked.
The Sheriff’s Office released images showing the deputy’s patrol car, which had its windshield damaged by buckshot that appeared to penetrate in front of the driver’s seat. According to Matheny, the deputy took cover behind the patrol car and returned fire at Morales, who was declared dead at the scene. The footage reviewed by the Sheriff’s Office did not capture Morales, as he was concealed behind a pickup truck before emerging to shoot at the deputy.
Matheny indicated that the name of the involved deputy and the body camera footage would not be disclosed while the investigation, now under the jurisdiction of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, is ongoing. It remains uncertain how many shots the deputy discharged, and the autopsy is expected to clarify the number of shots that struck Morales.
The incident commenced when a deputy was dispatched at 9:23 p.m. on Sunday to a domestic disturbance in the 1100 block of Lawver Road, located over 10 miles northeast of Wright. A 54-year-old woman had called 911 to report that her husband, later identified as Morales, had assaulted her by punching her in the face.
The deputy has been placed on administrative leave while the DCI investigation is conducted.
