Rigby suspect reportedly shoots and kills Texas man while holding child

RIGBY – New details were released about the murder of a man in Rigby on Sunday.

Tristin John Chase, 22, is charged with second-degree murder.

Chase is being represented by Jordan Crane, a public defender. The Idaho Public Defender’s office does not comment on active cases.

According to court documents, Rigby Police officers were called to a home on Ashlynn Way for shots fired on Sunday, around noon.

Dispatch originally told officers that a man had been shot in the head and that it was a potential suicide.

When they arrived, they found a woman holding a child and loudly crying. Another woman was performing CPR on a man on the floor, identified as the gunshot victim, 43-year-old Rafael Cordova Valles Jr. of Cedar Creek, Texas. Officers took over CPR from the woman, and she stated that she had watched him get shot.

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Officers asked where the firearm was, and both women stated, “he took it with him.” When asked who the shooter was, both women identified him as Chase and stated that he had shot Cordova Valles Jr. and then left with the gun.

When asked for more detail, the women said that Chase had fired twice before leaving the home and running into the parking lot before he drove away, most likely to a relative’s home in Idaho Falls.

Officers reportedly found a shell casing 10-15 feet from the front door of the home in a rock bed.

While medical personnel were performing life-saving measures on Cordova Valles Jr., Chase reportedly called one of the women at the scene. The woman gave the phone to a deputy who spoke with Chase.

According to court documents, Chase stated:

“He ran up on me while I was holding my daughter. I was holding her outside just fine, and he came up on me, and I told him ten times to stay back, and he kept coming up, and he kept coming up, and he kept coming up, and I told him to stay away, stay away. He kept f****** coming, he kept coming, and I went inside the house, and he kicked the door open, and he hit me with the door, and he tried punching me in the face.”

The deputy asked Chase where he was, and he reportedly said he was “freaking out” and was driving around, trying to catch his breath.

Chase allegedly told the deputy he would continue driving until he could calm down and asked whether his child was okay, to which the deputy confirmed.

He then allegedly asked the deputy if he had shot Cordova Valles Jr., and stated: “I didn’t even f****** mean to shoot, I don’t even know how my gun shot.”

Court documents say there was then a period of silence before Chase hung up, and then called back, saying he “didn’t mean for this to happen and had told (Cordova Valles Jr.) to go away multiple times.”

He also allegedly stated it was “not his fault” that it happened.

Chase told the deputy that Cordova Valles Jr. has reportedly been threatening him over the phone for months, and said he was “considering taking his own life in order to avoid going to prison for a ‘mishap.’”

Deputies then looked at text messages between Chase and the woman he called, and found a conversation from a few hours before, where Chase reportedly threatened Cordova Valles Jr., saying he was going to “Get his a** k puked by a 22 year old” and stating “I’m gonna make sure this fool n its pain.”

He also reportedly texted the woman to send him Cordova Valles Jr.’s phone number, and threatened her saying, “F****** send it I’m gonna go over to his air bnb now”. “and shoot it up if you don’t”, “f****** send it.”

Officers spoke to the other woman, whom Chase did not call, who said that the night prior, Chase had forced his way into the home and made her go to dinner with him.

She also stated that later in the night, Chase refused to leave the house and also claimed, “There were times that he forced himself on her.”

The text messages reportedly show that the woman wanted a restraining order against Chase.

Chase reportedly stayed overnight at the house after dinner and left early in the morning to buy milk for his daughter.

When he left, one of the women locked the front door so he could not get back inside, but eventually they let him back in to see his daughter.

According to court documents, Cordova Valles Jr. knew of the situation and had not heard from the women for two hours, so he went to the home to see what was happening.

The two men got into an argument in the front yard that eventually moved into the doorway.

One of the women stated that she saw Chase remove a gun from his waistband while holding his daughter.

The woman told police the child was “in the path of being shot.” The woman says Cordova Valles Jr. tried to take the gun from Chase, but that she then heard two shots.

One of the women reportedly yelled,” You have a gun?” and took the baby after the shots were fired.”

Chase then reportedly ran from the home, and the woman pressed a button on her Ring camera and said: “Call 911.” The woman provided deputies with this video.

Just before 1 p.m. Chase was located and taken into custody during a traffic stop near the 300 block of West 1 South in Rigby.

He was then arrested and booked into the Jefferson County Jail.

Chase appeared for an initial appearance on Monday, where he was given a $750,000 bond, and a no-contact order was issued for the victims.

He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Sept 3.

If convicted, Chase could face up to life in prison.

According to a news release from the Rigby Police Department, the case is “very active” and further details may be released at a later time.

Though Chase has been charged with this crime, it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

“Rigby Police Department would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance with this incident: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police, Rexburg Police Department, and Central Fire Department,” says the release. “Our condolences go out to Mr. Valles family and loved ones.”