Bundle up, Colorado! The first freeze of the season hit parts of the state, including Denver, overnight Saturday into Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Denver temperatures hit freezing just before 11 p.m. Saturday, according to hourly temperature logs from the weather service. By midnight, temperatures had dropped to 30.9 degrees, where they stayed until about 3 a.m., the logs show.
This year’s first freeze arrived nearly two weeks later than the average of Oct. 7, according to weather service records.
Eight of Denver’s first freezes in the last 10 years happened after Oct. 7, the records show. In 2020, Denver saw its first freeze on Sept. 8 — the earliest it’s been documented in the city.
Temperatures on the Eastern Plains dropped far below freezing overnight Saturday. Weather stations at Limon Municipal Airport recorded overnight temperatures as low as 19 degrees. According to the weather service, other overnight lows include:
Sixth Avenue is closed in both directions between Toledo and Vaughn streets following a crash that hospitalized two people, according to Aurora police.
The crash, which occurred at about 7:40 p.m., involved a motorcycle and a car, Aurora police said on X. One person sustained life-threatening injuries.
There is no estimated time as to when Sixth Avenue will reopen, police said, adding that motorists should use Colfax or Alameda avenues as alternate routes.
The Traffic Investigations Unit is investigating the crash. No other information has been released.
An Aurora Police Department sergeant who worked with school resource officers was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of child sex exploitation, police officials said Wednesday.
Aaron Bunch was arrested on federal charges related to sending and receiving child sexual abuse material online, Aurora police said in a statement.
Bunch was a supervisor of school resource officers, but there is no evidence that any students or children in Aurora Public Schools, Cherry Creek School District or the Aurora community were “impacted or victimized,” department officials said.
He was put on unpaid administrative leave, and the department launched an internal investigation into conduct and policy violations.
In a statement, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain described the allegations as disturbing.
“This person has brought shame and disgrace to the badge and to an honorable profession,” Chamberlain said. “Such behavior undermines the trust and legitimacy that our officers work hard to earn every single day.”
A Colorado woman and two other activists opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration raids in Los Angeles have been indicted on charges of illegally “doxing” a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, federal prosecutors said.
Ashleigh Brown, a 38-year-old woman from Aurora, is among the three accused of following the unidentified ICE agent home, livestreaming their pursuit and posting the agent’s address online, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Once they arrived at the agent’s home, prosecutors allege the women shouted “ICE lives on your street and you should know,” according to the indictment.
The defendants are each charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of publicly disclosing the personal information of a federal agent, the statement said.
Brown, who is being held in federal custody without bail, also faces charges of assault on a federal officer in a separate case stemming from a protest in Los Angeles in August, according to court records.
The Aurora woman was part of a small group of protesters who gathered outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building on Aug. 2 to protest immigration enforcement and raids in Los Angeles, according to court documents.
During that protest, Brown hit one of the Federal Protective Service officers trying to detain a man who jumped on the hood of a government car leaving the Roybal building, the criminal complaint alleges.
The Federal Protective Service is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agency responsible for protecting federally owned and leased buildings.
Brown’s federal assault case is still ongoing.
Prosecutors said the second suspect accused of doxing an ICE agent, a 25-year-old woman from Panorama City in Los Angeles, is free on $5,000 bail. Authorities are still searching for the third defendant, a 37-year-old woman from Riverside, California.
“Our brave federal agents put their lives on the line every day to keep our nation safe,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “The conduct of these defendants are deeply offensive to law enforcement officers and their families. If you threaten, dox, or harm in any manner one of our agents or employees, you will face prosecution and prison time.”
Doxing is a typically malicious practice that involves gathering private or identifying information and releasing it online without the person’s permission, usually in an attempt to harass, threaten, shame or exact revenge.
Attorneys for the women could not immediately be reached on Monday. An email was sent to the Federal Public Defender’s Office asking if its attorneys are representing the defendants.
According to the indictment, the three women last month followed an ICE agent from the federal building in downtown Los Angeles to the agent’s residence in Baldwin Park, east of LA. They livestreamed the entire event, court documents say.
In July, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threatened to prosecute people for publishing federal agents’ personal information in response to fliers in Portland, Oregon, that called for people to collect intel on ICE.
Critics of the Trump administration’s raids have expressed outrage over federal agents wearing masks and refusing to identify themselves in public while arresting immigrants in California.
Last week, California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business.
A 17-year-old who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a shooting at an Aurora rental hall was sentenced to 35 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, the district attorney’s office said.
Xavier Garcia, 17, was arrested after a shooting during a party in the 2000 block of Tower Road on March 23, 2024.
The victim, 19-year-old Joseph Martinez, was standing against a wall when a fight broke out and Garcia approached him, pulled out a handgun and shot him in the chest, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Martinez was taken to the hospital and later died.
Garcia pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on July 28, and prosecutors dismissed charges of first-degree murder and possession of a handgun by a juvenile as part of the plea agreement.
In a statement, District Attorney Brian Mason described Garcia’s actions as “outrageous, unjustified and devastating.”
“This case is yet another tragic example of the devastation caused by youth gun violence,” Mason said. “A 19-year-old lost his life, and a 17-year-old threw his future away with senseless act of violence.”
An attorney for Garcia could not immediately be reached for comment.
A judge in Arapahoe County’s 18th Judicial District court sentenced an Aurora driver to five years in prison, followed by five years of mandatory parole, for the fatal killing of a 65-year-old man and his dog.
On the night of April 3, Michael Graham-Hyde, 73, killed Rafael Alberto Buitrago and his dog, Nova, while they were on a walk near East Wesley Drive and East Caspian Circle.
Graham-Hyde told police he had been awake for 38 hours after returning from an overseas trip when he fell asleep at the wheel and hit Buitrago and Nova, according to an arrest affidavit.
He got out of his SUV, saw Buitrago and “panicked,” choosing to drive away when he saw another car coming because he thought the other driver would stop and help, police wrote in the affidavit.
Graham-Hyde stood before Arapahoe County District Court Judge LaQunya Baker at Monday afternoon’s sentencing hearing and expressed deep remorse for crashing into Buitrago and fleeing the scene, a decision he said fills him with shame that he will carry for the rest of his life.
“His family must be feeling pain and suffering, and have questions that may never be answered, and I regret what I have done to their family,” he said.
Buitrago was pronounced dead at the hospital, and Nova was killed instantly, police said.
Luz Buitrago, Rafael’s wife, said that Graham-Hyde ended 33 years of marriage and that what happened to her husband not only destroyed her life, but also the lives of many others.
A 38-year-old man was arrested in connection with a fatal shooting Sunday afternoon in Sheridan, police said Friday.
The victim, an adult man, was shot shortly after getting into his vehicle in the 3300 block of South Zuni Street at 1:08 p.m., the Sheridan Police Department said in a news release.
The suspect fled the scene in another vehicle, and the victim was taken to HCA HealthONE Swedish and pronounced dead.
Investigators identified Anthony Elmer Trujillo as a suspect in the case and arrested him Friday, the department said.
Trujillo is being held without bail at the Arapahoe County jail. His next court date was not available.
Six people were taken to the hospital after a “serious” multi-vehicle crash that closed southbound Interstate 25 and a light rail line near Greenwood Village on Thursday night.
South Metro Fire Rescue crews responded to the crash at 6:52 p.m. near I-25 and Arapahoe Road, the agency said on social media. A hazardous materials truck also responded to the scene for a fuel leak from one of the vehicles.
Further information about the severity of injuries was not immediately available.
The highway will likely be closed for an extended period of time, and the Regional Transportation District’s E Line is also shut down because of debris from the crash on the track, South Metro spokesperson Brian Willie said.
Shuttle buses are replacing E Line service at the Lincoln, County Line, Dry Creek, Arapahoe at Village Center, Orchard, Belleview and Southmoor stations until further notice, according to an RTD alert.
Southbound I-25 is closed at exit 198 for Orchard Road and Greenwood Village, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The Greenwood Village Police Department is investigating the crash, Willie said.
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Serving on a jury can be incredibly difficult. Citizens put their lives on pause to sit through days of evidence, learning devastating details, and working with complete strangers to reach a unanimous agreement.
One jury out of Arapahoe County faced those challenges with grace, and now consider each other close friends several weeks after their case has concluded. They had no idea what they were getting into when they were first selected to be on the jury that would decide the fate of James Craig, a former Aurora dentist.
James Craig was taken to trial this summer, accused of murdering his wife, 43-year-old Angela Craig, in 2023.
Prosecutors argued James Craig poisoned his wife over 10 days via workout smoothies and a medication intended to treat sinus infections. They also claimed he administered a lethal dose of cyanide to Angela Craig while she was hospitalized on March 15, 2023.
Mark Pray
Angela Craig
Six of the jury members sat down exclusively with Denver7: David Lemont, Angie Roberts, Monica Montoya, Brittany Roybal, Lorie Haverland, and Tammi Peterson. Brittany Roybal was an alternate juror and did not participate in deliberations.
“He was innocent. They had to prove him guilty, and they did a good job,” said Peterson.
James Craig was tried for one count of first-degree murder, two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence, two counts of solicitation to commit perjury in the first degree, and one count of solicitation to commit first-degree murder. Five of the counts were added to the case during his time in jail.
On July 30, the jury found him guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“We wanted to make sure that we were thorough with everything, so that there was no question and that it was also solidified just in our hearts and minds,” Lemont, who was the foreperson of the jury, said about the verdict. “I feel good even now, looking back, that we really did try our best and we did our due diligence for each count.”
When the jury began deliberations, they ensured every member received the time and space needed to make their own, individual decision on each count. The solicitation charges — in particular, the charge connected to a murder for hire plot James Craig discussed with a fellow inmate regarding the lead Aurora Police Detective on the case — took some time for some jury members to consider.
After one night, the jury returned for deliberations on July 30. That afternoon, they reached a unanimous verdict.
“It was a sense, for me, of unity,” Haverland said. “We are coming out here as a unit. Everybody’s on board. Everybody is feeling good about these decisions, and we’re about to deliver this to the courtroom, and hopefully her [Angela Craig’s] family will be able to begin their healing.”
When coordinating an interview with jurors, the first question Peterson asked Denver7 was whether we could help facilitate a meeting between some of the jury members and the Aurora police detectives who led this investigation.
On Thursday evening, Denver7 surprised the jurors with Aurora Police Detectives Bobbi Jo Olson and Molly Harris, who wanted to meet the jury just as badly.
“I was so disappointed that we couldn’t talk to you, because usually we like to go back and have that conversation. And just because of the immediate sentencing, we weren’t able to,” Olson told the jurors.
“To make a long story short, my husband used to be a police officer in Illinois with me, and he got shot in the line of duty. And so, I’ve been through this process in a different way, obviously, as a victim, and I know how important a jury is,” Harris said. “Y’all ultimately make the decision we can’t. Thank you.”
The appeals process for James Craig has started. A spokesperson with the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said an appeal does not appear to have been filed yet, but James Craig has been appointed a public defender who has requested transcripts of the trial.
On Friday evening, a new “20/20” episode about the investigation into James Craig will air on ABC at 8 p.m. MST.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available through Violence Free Coloradoor the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Colette Bordelon
Denver7’s Colette Bordelon covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on crime, justice and issues impacting our climate and environment. If you’d like to get in touch with Colette, fill out the form below to send her an email.
A woman died and an infant was injured when a Mercedes SUV driven by the woman collided head-on with an RTD bus Thursday evening in Aurora.
Police responded to the crash at 5:18 p.m. at East 30th Avenue and East Parklane Drive. The woman and the infant, who wasn’t restrained, were thrown from the vehicle. Both were taken to the hospital.
Police said the woman died shortly after arriving at the hospital. The infant remains hospitalized with serious injuries.
Their names weren’t released.
Several passengers on the RTD bus were checked for injuries. One passenger and the bus driver were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are looking at speed and possible intoxication as possible factors involved in the crash.
Federal immigration arrests in Colorado surged this summer as the Trump administration charged ahead with its plans to mass-deport undocumented immigrants.
But as arrests have spiked, law enforcement agencies increasingly have detained people without any prior criminal convictions or charges, internal data show.
Between June 11 and July 28, ICE arrested 828 people in Colorado, according to a Denver Post analysis of data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley. That amounted to more than 17 arrests per day, a more than 50% increase from the first five months of the Trump administration, through June 10, a period covered in a previous Post story. The rate from this summer was also more than five times higher than the daily arrest average from the same time period in 2024.
Of those detained over the summer, only a third had prior criminal convictions noted in the records. Another 18% had pending charges, indicating that nearly half had been neither convicted nor charged with a crime and that their only violation was immigration-related.
That, too, is a shift: In the earlier months of President Donald Trump’s second term, two-thirds of the 1,639 people arrested in Colorado had either been convicted of a crime (38%) or charged with one (29%).
“That tracks with what we would have expected (and) what we’ve been hearing from community sources,” said Henry Sandman, the co-executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. “The data and the reality disproves ICE’s talking points that they’re going after criminals. We’re seeing tactics increase. They’re trying to increase arrest numbers as high as possible, whatever the reason may be for detaining folks.”
Steve Kotecki, a spokesman for Denver’s ICE field office, did not respond to a request for comment late last week.
The data, obtained directly from ICE by the UC Berkeley researchers through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, offers the clearest look at immigration enforcement activities available, as ICE doesn’t post recent information online. For this analysis, The Post examined arrests that occurred in Colorado; arrests that were listed in the dataset as occurring in Wyoming but which took place in a Colorado city; and arrests lacking a listed state but which occurred in a Colorado town or county.
The Post removed several apparent duplicate arrests and a similarly small number of arrests in the region that did not have a specific location listed. The analysis also included a handful of people who appeared to have been arrested twice in the span of several months.
When listing a detainee’s criminal background, the data provides no details about the criminal charges or prior crimes. Illegally entering the country is typically treated as a civil matter upon first offense, but a subsequent entry is a felony criminal offense.
More info about July operation
The newly released data includes the same nine-day period in July during which ICE has said it arrested 243 immigrants without proper legal status “who are currently charged with or have been convicted of criminal offenses after illegally entering the United States.” The arrests, the agency said, all occurred in metro Denver.
But the data published by the UC-Berkeley researchers does not fully match ICE’s public representations.
During the same time frame, the agency arrested 232 people, according to the data. Most of those arrested during that time had never been convicted or charged with a crime, at least according to what’s in the records. Sixty-six people had a previous criminal conviction, and 34 more had pending charges.
Kotecki did not respond to questions about the July operation.
The Post previously reported that ICE falsely claimed that it had arrested a convicted murderer in Denver as part of the July operation. The man had actually been arrested at a state prison facility shortly after his scheduled release, state prison officials said last month.
While ICE claimed the man had found “sanctuary” in the capital city — a shot taken at Denver’s immigration ordinances — The Post found that state prison officials had coordinated his transfer directly to ICE. He was then deported to Mexico, and information matching his description is reflected in the UC Berkeley data.
It’s unclear if all of ICE’s arrests are fully reflected in the data, making it difficult to verify ICE’s claims. The researchers’ data is imperfect, experts have told The Post. The records likely represent the merging of separate datasets before they were provided by the government, increasing the likelihood of mistakes or missing data.
Some arrests in Colorado were listed as occurring in other states or had no state listed at all. Other arrests were duplicated entirely, and researchers have cautioned that ICE’s data at times has had inaccurate or missing information.
The anonymized nature of the data, which lacks arrestees’ names but lists some biographical information, also can make it difficult to verify. When ICE announced the results of the July operation, it named eight of the people it had arrested. Court records and the UC Berkeley data appear to match up with as many as seven of them.
The eighth, Blanca Ochoa Tello, was arrested on July 14 by ICE’s investigative branch in a drug-trafficking investigation, court filings show. But it’s unclear if she appears in the ICE data, as she was arrested in La Plata County and no woman arrested in that county was listed in the data.
To verify ICE’s July operation claims, The Post examined arrest data in Colorado and Wyoming, which jointly form the Denver area of operations for the agency. The Post also searched for arrests in every other state to identify any arrests that may have occurred in a Colorado area but were errantly listed under other states.
Federal agents detain a man as he exits a court hearing in immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on July 30, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Nationally, immigration authorities had their most arrest-heavy months this summer, according to data published by researchers at Syracuse University. Immigration officials arrested more than 36,700 people in June, its highest single-month total since June 2019, during Trump’s first term. More than 31,200 were arrested across the country in July.
The Trump administration has also set out to increase its detention capacity to accommodate the mass-deportation plans.
As of late July, ICE planned to triple its detention capacity in Colorado, according to documents obtained last month by the Washington Post. That plan includes opening as many as three new facilities and the expansion of Colorado’s sole existing facility in Aurora.
DHS officers watch from the parking lot as protesters gather at the entrance to the ICE Colorado Field Office on Aug. 30, 2025, in Centennial. (Photo By Kathryn Scott/Special to The Denver Post)
Over the course of this year, ICE arrested people in Colorado who were originally from more than 60 countries, according to the data. That included 10 Iranians arrested in late June or early July. Six of those people were arrested on June 22, the day after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. Three more were arrested over the next 48 hours.
The vast majority of the undocumented immigrants who were arrested and deported were returned to their home countries, though roughly 50 were sent somewhere else, the data show. Nine Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador in the first two weeks of the Trump administration, when alleged gang members were dispatched to a notorious prison there.
ProPublica identified roughly a dozen Coloradans who were sent to that prison. It reported that several were arrested in late January, which matches information listed in the ICE data published by UC Berkeley.
Advocates’ fears of continued arrests have escalated as ICE’s funding has surged. On Aug. 30, several immigration advocates picketed outside an ICE field office in Centennial after a number of immigrants received abrupt notices to check in at the facility.
Four people were detained, said Jordan Garcia, the program director for the American Friends Service Committee’s immigrant-rights program in Colorado.
Among them, he said, was an older Cuban man with dementia. Garcia and other advocates spoke with the man and his son before they entered the facility. The son later came out, Garcia said, and said that his father had been detained.
No one in Colorado took home the nearly $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot on Saturday, but seven lucky ticket holders across the state still walked away winners.
The seven large-prize tickets sold in Colorado are worth between $50,000 and $1 million, according to a news release from the Colorado Lottery. The prizes include:
$1 million from a ticket sold at a Kum & Go/Maverick at 9665 Prominent Point in Colorado Springs
$100,000 from a ticket sold at a Loaf N Jug at 101 West Brontosaurus Boulevard in Dinosaur
$100,000 from a ticket sold at a Kum & Go/Maverick at 70 West Bridge Street in Brighton
$100,000 from a ticket sold at a Sherman Food & Gas at 207 South Sherman Street in Fort Morgan
$100,000 from a ticket sold at an A-1 Food & Gas at 10300 East Sixth Avenue in Aurora
$50,000 from a ticket sold at a King Soopers at 17761 Cottonwood Drive in Parker
$50,000 from a ticket sold at Banana Belt Liquors at 300 U.S. 24 in Woodland Park
Two Powerball players in Missouri and Texas won the nearly $1.8 billion jackpot during Saturday night’s drawing, ending the lottery game’s three-month drought without a winner. The two winners will split the jackpot.
The winning numbers were 11, 23, 44, 61, and 62, with the Powerball number being 17.
The winning ticket in Texas was sold at a gas station-convenience store in Fredericksburg, according to the Texas Lottery.
The $1.787 billion prize, which was the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot in history, followed 41 consecutive drawings in which no one matched all six numbers. The last drawing with a jackpot winner happened on May 31.
Powerball’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.
The Missouri and Texas winners will have the choice between an annuitized prize of $893.5 million or a lump sum payment of $410.3 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If a winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year. Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
State officials expect a rise in ozone and fine particulate levels that will be unhealthy for older adults, children and people with heart or lung disease, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The agency issued an action day alert at 4 p.m. Thursday that is set to last until at least 4 p.m. Friday. Communities covered by the alert span urban corridor from Douglas County to the south and Larimer and Weld counties to the north, including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.
People who are sensitive to air pollution should not spend long periods of time outside or participate in heavy exercise outdoors, state officials said.
Arapahoe sheriff deputies, South Metro firefighters and Colorado State Patrol investigate an injury accident on South Parker Road north of South Chambers Road on Sept. 1, 2025. (Provided by Arapahoe Sheriff Department)
A motorist driving a BMW at speeds in excess of 100 mph lost control of the vehicle Monday on South Parker Road just and ended up wheels pointed skyward between two horse trailers, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities said the driver and a passenger were seriously injured in the crash, which occurred shortly before 2 p.m. just southeast of the Cherry Creek Reservoir.
Witnesses told authorities that the driver of the BMW was speeding southbound on South Parker Road just north of South Chambers Road when the sedan left the roadway, crashed through a fence and landed upside down between the trailers. The driver and passenger were taken to a hospital.
Federal prosecutors charged 30 people with largely gun and drug-trafficking crimes after a months-long investigation in metro Denver, a mix of federal and local officials announced at a news conference Monday.
Those charged include eight people who investigators believe are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua, U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said. He said he considers three of the eight gang members to be “leaders.” Two of the leaders were arrested July 30 in Colombia, court records show.
McNeilly could not say how many Tren de Aragua gang members remain in Colorado, whether the local members were taking direction from leaders in Venezuela, or how many of the 30 people arrested in the operation were Venezuelan nationals.
David Olesky, a special agent in charge with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said the federal charges against eight gang members “diminished” Tren de Aragua’s “influence and capabilities” in the Denver area.
The federal investigation started in October when Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown sought federal assistance to deal with rising crime at the Ivy Crossing apartments on Quebec Street. The subsequent investigation involved at least 40 undercover operations and branched out significantly from the apartment complex.
Federal investigators seized or purchased 69 guns during the investigation, according to court records. Twenty-seven of those guns were connected through ballistics to 67 “separate shooting events,” said Brent Beavers, Denver special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Court records show those incidents included drive-by shootings, an attempted carjacking and a shootout between two large groups, among others.
“By removing these firearms from the street, we’ve disrupted a dangerous cycle of violence, prevented further harm to our community and sent a clear message to criminal networks,” Beavers said.
The defendants in the federal cases announced Monday were not charged in connection with those shootings.
Rather, the majority of defendants face charges of possessing guns, conspiring to illegally traffic guns, distributing drugs and conspiring to distribute drugs in connection with incidents in which they are accused of selling drugs or guns to undercover federal agents.
If convicted, the defendants face between five and 20 years in prison on many of the charges.
Six of the defendants are also charged with conspiring to commit murder-for-hire. An undercover agent asked the defendants in May if they could hire the defendants to kill two people for $10,000. The defendants allegedly agreed to commit the homicides for $15,000, and one defendant also offered to decapitate the victims and return their heads to the undercover agents for an additional $5,000.
Several of the defendants were arrested after they met up to get ready for the killings, according to an affidavit.
Conspiracy to commit murder for hire can be punished by up to 10 years in prison.
John Fabbricatore enforced federal immigration laws in his position as an ICE field office director until two years ago, and now he hopes to help secure America’s borders as a congressman.
The Republican candidate in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District is drawing on his career with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he runs against U.S. Rep. Jason Crow in the Nov. 5 election. Crow, a Democrat, just finished his third term in Congress as the representative of the district, which includes Aurora, Littleton, Englewood, Greenwood Village and Centennial.
The odds weigh heavily in Crow’s favor. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report doesn’t consider the fight for the 6th District to be competitive. It’s ranked as solidly Democratic, in part because Crow, 45, won all three of his elections by double-digit percentages and redistricting in 2020 resulted in boundaries more favorable to Democrats.
That’s a change from 2018 when the district was seen as a battleground and Crow won his first race by unseating then-U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, now Aurora’s mayor.
But this time, Fabbricatore, 52, says voters are looking for a candidate who will prioritize the economy and lower taxes — and he contends that he’s the person for the job.
“They want someone that wants to fight,” Fabbricatore said.
He and Crow share certain traits. They’re both veterans: Fabbricatore served in the U.S. Air Force, and Crow was an Army Ranger. They’re hunters, each having longstanding experience with firearms. Neither hails from Colorado originally, with Fabbricatore raised in New York City and Crow in Madison, Wisconsin.
And the candidates, both fathers of two children, reside in Aurora.
Beyond that, their stances on major issues diverge — including on immigration, which Fabbricatore refers to as his “subject matter expertise.”
He argues jobs are going to immigrants compensated with lower wages, taking positions that could be filled by Americans for higher pay. Fabbricatore says he supports “legal, vetted” immigration and more stringent enforcement of existing laws.
“If we actually just enforce those laws, we will be doing much better than we are doing today with immigration,” he said.
In recent weeks, Fabbricatore has raised the alarm alongside former President Donald Trump and other conservatives about the presence of Venezuelan gangs in Aurora — while Crow has called out exaggerations and criticized Trump for distorting the problems in certain apartment complexes.
Crow notes that he represents “one of the most diverse districts in the nation,” with nearly 20% of his constituents born outside of the U.S. He wants to use federal grants and other programs to help immigrants and defend them against racist rhetoric.
He said he backed a bipartisan immigration deal that ran aground earlier this year after failing to earn enough Republican support. It would have boosted the number of border patrol agents, immigration judges and officers that oversee asylum cases, as well as established more legal pathways for migrants and others without documentation.
Fabbricatore said in a Denver Post candidate questionnaire that he would not have supported the bipartisan bill, instead preferring another bill with a greater focus on border security.
Gun violence is what motivated Crow to run for office. He backs a ban on assault weapons and supports universal background checks. He’s also working to pass a bill that would apply the same restrictions to out-of-state residents when they purchase long guns and shotguns as they face when buying handguns — requiring that the gun be shipped to a federally licensed seller in their home state, with a background check performed there.
Gun violence is “just an unacceptable, avoidable, ongoing national tragedy,” Crow said. “We don’t have to live with mass shootings.”
Fabbricatore says he believes in gun rights and is instead pushing for investments in mental health.
The candidates differ on abortion. Crow favors abortion rights, saying he aligns with the majority of Coloradans who back legal access to abortion — and he would support a federal law establishing that as a right. Fabbricatore says Congress should leave abortion’s legal status to the states. He opposes abortion, but he says he recognizes a need for exceptions, including in cases of rape.
“Having been someone who worked in sex trafficking and saw what many women went through, I could never tell a woman that she couldn’t have a medical procedure to end what happened to her,” he said.
Fabbricatore points to the economy as his No. 1 issue, saying it’s impacted by energy policy and immigration. He sees Colorado’s potential to participate in the energy sector through solar, wind, fracking and coal.
He says he wants to leave the younger generations with a prosperous economy, reliable job market and reasonable housing prices.
Crow says the nation’s inflation and interest rates are dropping, but he contends that prices are still “way too high for many Coloradans.”
He points to corporate price gouging as a contributing factor. Crow argues that the labor shortage, which drives up prices, could be addressed through immigration reform.
“There’s more work to do, but we’re on a good path — and certainly need to keep on the path that we are to make sure things are affordable,” Crow said.
Regional Transporation District buses will replace part of the light rail’s W Line near Lakewood during weekend repairs, according to RTD officials.
The W Line will be closed down between the Garrison and Sheridan stations from 11:30 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Sunday as crews repair overhead wires damaged by vandalism last month, RTD officials said in a news release.
The last three trips of Friday night’s normal W Line train schedule will be canceled this week, RTD officials said. The last trains will leave Union Station around 11:22 p.m. and the Jefferson County Government Center/Golden Station around 11:24 p.m..
The W Line will be closed all day Saturday between the Sheridan and Garrison stations, RTD officials said. Buses will replace trains between the two stations.
Riders can board the buses at:
Sheridan Station at 10th and Ames streets: Riders can board at eastbound and westbound Route 9 bus stops.
Lamar Station at 13th and Lamar streets: Riders can board at eastbound and westbound Route 9 bus stops.
Lakewood/Wadsworth Station: Riders can board next to the light rail platform.
Garrison Station: Riders can board next to the rail platform.
RTD officials said the first three normally scheduled W Line trips will be canceled on Sunday, with full service returning around 6 a.m.
A pedestrian was killed in a crash near South Parker Road near Interstate 225 on Sunday morning, according to the Aurora Police Department.
Southbound lanes of South Parker Road are closed at South Peoria Street because of the crash investigation, Aurora police said in a post on X. There is no estimated time of reopening and drivers should seek alternate routes.
The crash occurred around 6 a.m., according to police officials. Additional information about the crash was not immediately available.
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office is looking for suspects in connection with a robbery and attempted homicide at a 7-Eleven store early Saturday morning.
The sheriff’s office said two men were shoplifting from the convenience store at 1120 S. Parker Road around 6 a.m. when a clerk confronted them.
The two suspects — described as being in their late teens or early 20s — ran outside as the clerk followed.
At this point, the sheriff’s office said one of the suspects took out a handgun and shot at the pursuing clerk, missing him.
The two suspects jumped into a waiting grey Nissan SUV and fled northbound on S. Parker Road. No arrests have been made.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the incident as an aggravated robbery and attempted homicide.
Coloradans making a difference | Denver7 featured videos
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what’s right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
Lumumba Sayers, 46, is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of felony menacing in the Saturday shooting death of Malcolm Watson near Paradice Island Pool at Pioneer Park.
He appeared in Adams County District Court on Thursday, where a judge increased his bail from $1 million to $5 million.
According to an arrest affidavit and witness statements made in court Thursday, Watson was carrying party supplies for his son’s birthday at the pool at 5951 Monaco St. when Sayers walked up to him and shot him multiple times, including once in the head.
After shooting Watson, Sayers went to talk with a man and a woman in a black Cadillac Escalade parked nearby before returning to Watson’s body, taking his keys and trying to place a handgun under his body, according to the affidavit.
Commerce City police officers arrived on scene to find Sayers crouching over Watson before he started to walk toward the Escalade, according to the affidavit.
Officers arrested him after witnesses began yelling that he was the shooter. Watson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told detectives they believed the shooting was retaliation or revenge for the death of Sayers’ son, 23-year-old Lumumba Sayers Jr., who was killed almost a year ago in a shooting involving one of Watson’s friends, according to the affidavit.
In response to an inquiry about Braxton’s case, the Denver District Attorney’s Office stated “no such records exist,” which is the only response prosecutors can provide under Colorado law when a case has been sealed.
Braxton is on trial in federal court in Denver this week for a weapons charge related to the August 2023 shooting, according to court records.
He was indicted by a grand jury in January on one count of possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, court records show.
The trial is scheduled to wrap up this week, court officials said Thursday.
The center, which described the elder Sayers as a founder in social media posts, is “a safe place where youth and adults are provided with basic needs, educational and career support, health resources, recreational and outreach services to assist with creating jobs and a building a sustainable life,” according to a description on its Facebook page.
Defense attorneys argued Sayers was an “exceptional” man and defended his character and position in the community during Thursday’s hearing, while prosecutors argued he was a danger to the community and Watson’s family as well as a flight risk.
Adams County District Court Judge Jeffrey Ruff ordered a $5 million cash-only bail, calling it the “only bond acceptable” in the case.
Sayers’ next court date was not available Thursday.
