Husband who killed wife with shotgun and claimed they were fighting about gun safety is sentenced

Inset: Tyler Nelson (Denver Police Department). Background: The area in Denver where Nelson killed his wife (Google Maps).

A 32-year-old Colorado man will spend decades in prison for fatally shooting his wife with a shotgun during an argument about gun safety, then claiming it was an accident.

Denver District Judge Stephanie Scoville on Wednesday sentenced Tyler Nelson to 40 years in a state correctional facility for the murder of 30-year-old Breanna Canter, authorities announced.

A jury convicted Nelson in August of second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

According to the Denver District Attorney's Office, Nelson called 911 just after 1 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2024, to report that his wife had been shot inside their Denver apartment in the 600 block of South Dayton Street.

First responders found Breanna Canter on the main bedroom floor with a gunshot wound. The couple's young son was in the home and unharmed.

Officers noted that a shotgun was leaning against an open closet with its muzzle pointed upward, local NBC affiliate KUSA reported, citing a probable cause affidavit.

Nelson told investigators that he and Canter had been arguing before the shooting and she had accused him of "playing games on his cellphone and not paying attention to her," the Denver Post reported.

Nelson said he went to the bathroom and returned to find Canter holding the shotgun and asking him about the weapon's safety. He told police that he grabbed for the weapon, telling her it was unsafe because they had both been drinking, but she would not let it go.

Nelson initially claimed the shotgun remained inside its soft carrying case, reportedly asserting that his knuckle caught on the trigger through the case, causing the gun to discharge.

But physical evidence contradicted that account, investigators said. Canter reportedly had multiple wounds to her upper right chest and chin area that "did not appear to match up with how Nelson explained the gunshot." The preliminary examination of the scene similarly did not match Nelson's explanation, investigators said.

The shotgun Nelson claimed never left its case was reportedly found outside it.

When detectives confronted Nelson about the weapon's location, he said he was no longer sure whether it had been inside the case or when it was removed, per the Post.

The arrest affidavit also described Nelson's demeanor after the shooting. According to the Post, police wrote:

"Throughout the entire time Nelson was at police headquarters, he never once asked how his wife was doing. He also never asked anyone how his son was doing. … He really didn't show any emotion about what had occurred."

Denver District Attorney John Walsh said Canter was "a loving mother and a beloved daughter" whose murder was an "unspeakable tragedy" for her young son and parents.

"Today's sentence ensures that Tyler Nelson pays a heavy price for his despicable actions," Walsh said. "It also provides a measure of justice, we hope, for Breanna, for her family, and for her friends."