Man convicted of murder shot Denver woman inside her apartment last year

A 53-year-old man was convicted of murder Monday for shooting and killing a Denver woman in her apartment last year, according to court records.

After a six-day trial, a Denver jury found Ernest Cunningham guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Kelsey Roberts, 23, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

Another resident in Roberts’ building called the police shortly after 4:30 p.m. on June 29, 2024, when he heard a gunshot and what sounded like someone running away toward the building’s stairwell, according to Cunningham’s arrest affidavit.

When he looked out into the hallway, the resident spotted a spent bullet casing on the floor, police said in the affidavit.

Another resident saw Cunningham leaving the building from his balcony and took a video of Cunningham’s car as it left the parking lot, police said. Police traced the car back to Cunningham using that video, which showed its license plate, and surveillance video from the apartment complex.

Roberts’ husband told police that he works with Cunningham and that Cunningham “knew where they lived and had issues with him,” police wrote in the affidavit.

The husband said he did not like Cunningham because the man used drugs at work. After Cunningham was fired, he began calling Roberts’ husband and threatening him. Cunningham had visited the apartment before, but did not live in the building, according to the affidavit.

Denver police officers arrived at the southeast Denver apartment building in the 800 block of South Dexter Street less than five minutes after the first 911 call was made.

When they arrived, Denver officers saw blood splatters on Roberts’ door and said it appeared someone had forced their way into the apartment, according to the affidavit. Roberts’ body was found just inside the apartment.

She died from her injuries on scene, police wrote in the affidavit.

Denver and Aurora police officers found Cunningham’s car near a northern Aurora hotel in the 16400 block E. 40th Circle later that evening. Cunningham was arrested inside.