LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A Lakewood woman's family is asking for help covering the cost of her burial after her husband allegedly strangled her.
Around 7:15 a.m. on Sunday, officers with the Lakewood Police Department responded to a condominium complex along the 5700 block of W. Atlantic Place on a welfare check. When officers arrived, they found a woman deceased inside. Police said it appeared she had been strangled. She was later identified as Jasmine Lazaro, 34.
Following an investigation, police said they arrested her husband, 37-year-old Mario Alonso Montoya-Rodriguez, in connection to her death.
Montoya-Rodriguez is being held at the Jefferson County Jail on suspicion of several crimes, which include first-degree murder, violation of a protection order, and child abuse.
Lazaro's family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs to bury her body in her hometown of Los Angeles.
"She was loved by many people, she was kind-hearted, had a smile and a laugh that brightened the world," Lazaro's sister Yanira Garcia wrote on GoFundMe. "She was also an entrepreneur selling her jewelry, making a name for herself. So many things I can say about my sister. I can go on and on. She leaves us broken-hearted. We ask for your support and are eternally grateful."
According to the GoFundMe, Lazaro had two children — 2 and 6 years old.
As of 1 p.m. Thursday, donors had raised about $6.2K for the family.