On the evening of August 20, 2021, 22-year-old Christian Leonel Cortes Alfaro was fatally wounded by a gunshot at his residence in the 4500 block of Larned Circle in Hays, Kansas. Officers from the Hays Police Department and deputies from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office found Cortes Alfaro suffering from a gunshot wound; he was taken to Hays Medical Center and later died of his injuries.

Christian was at home with his two roommates when the shooting occurred. Investigators concluded that roommate Brian Spencer Finger, 22, was handling a firearm in the front room and was preparing to make repairs when the weapon accidentally discharged, striking Cortes Alfaro in the head. Finger was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Hays Police detectives reviewed the case.

Christian was a Biology major at Fort Hays State University, on the Dean’s Honor Roll and active in the American Medical Student Association Premedical Club. Later court proceedings and a plea agreement produced a sentence for Finger; testimony at sentencing described a history of reckless firearm use and Christian’s parents delivered emotional statements about losing their only child.