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.
The flaming carcass of an electrocuted bird was determined to be the cause of a July brush fire in Arapahoe County that burned more than 1,100 acres and destroyed property southeast of Byers, according to a report released Friday by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The Quail Hollow Fire report, issued by the Byers Fire Protection District and the Strasburg Fire Protection District, said on the morning of July 13, a small bird came into contact with an energized electrical pole on the south side of 2490 S. Quail Hollow Drive.
The bird’s flaming body then fell into vegetation at the base of the power pole which provided the initial fuel for the fire, the report said.
Dry vegetation, heavy fuel load in the area, winds and the local topography allowed the fire to spread, the report said.
The fire was ruled accidental.
One residential home and at least twelve outbuildings were destroyed in the blaze, the report said.
Byers and Strasburg Fire responded to the fire around 10:09 a.m. and reported a “slow-moving fire in medium fuels moving to the south.”
Minutes later, the fire was upgraded to “large brush fire” when flames reached heavy timbers, the report said. The I-70 corridor large brush fire response was activated and mutual aid resources were requested as the fire grew and moved.
Colorado has three years to lower ground-level ozone pollution to meet federal standards, and this summer’s hazy skies — caused by oil and gas drilling, heavy vehicle traffic and wildfire smoke — are putting the state in a hole as it’s already logged more dirty air days than in all of 2023.
“Our state has taken a lot of steps to improve air quality, but you can see it in the skies, you can see it in the air, that we still have work to do,” said Kirsten Schatz, clean air advocate for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group.
Two months into the 2024 summer ozone season, the Front Range already has recorded more high ozone days than the entire summer of 2023. As of Monday, which is the most recent data available, ozone levels had exceeded federal air quality standards on 28 days. At the same point in 2023, there had been 27 high-ozone days.
The summer ozone season runs from June 1 to Aug. 31. However, the region encompassing metro Denver and the northern Front Range this year recorded its first high ozone day in May, and in some years ozone pollution exceeds federal standards into mid-September.
The first benchmark is to lower average ozone pollution to a 2008 standard of 75 parts per billion. The northern Front Range is in what’s called “severe non-attainment” for that number, meaning motorists must use a more expensive blend of gasoline during the summer and more businesses must apply for federal permits that regulate how much pollution they spill into the air.
The second benchmark requires the region to lower its average ozone pollution to a 2015 standard of 70 parts per billion, considered the most acceptable level of air pollution for human health. In July, the EPA downgraded the northern Front Range to be in serious violation of that standard as the region’s ozone level now sits at 81 parts per billion. The state must now submit to the EPA a new plan for lowering emissions.
Colorado needs to meet both EPA benchmarks by 2027, or it will be downgraded again and face more federal regulation.
Of the 28 days the state has recorded high ozone pollution levels, 17 exceeded the 2008 standard of 70 parts per billion, according to data compiled by the Regional Air Quality Council, an organization that advises the state on how to reduce air pollution.
That’s bad news for the region after state air regulators predicted Colorado would be able to meet that standard by the 2027 deadline. The EPA calculates average ozone pollution levels on a three-year average, so this summer’s bad numbers will drag down the final grade.
“It’s not a good first year to have,” said Mike Silverstein, the air quality council’s executive director.
Smoke from wildfires near and far
Ground-level ozone pollution forms on hot summer days when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides react in the sunlight. Those compounds and gases are released by oil and gas wells and refineries, automobiles on the road, fumes from paint and other industrial chemicals, and gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.
It forms a smog that can cause the skies to become brown or hazy, and it is harmful to people, especially those with lung and heart disease, the elderly and children. Ground-level ozone is different than the ozone in the atmosphere that protects Earth from the sun’s powerful rays.
Wildfire smoke blowing from Canada and the Pacific Northwest did not help Colorado’s pollution levels in July, and then multiple fires erupted along the Front Range over the past week, creating homegrown pollution from fine particulate matter such as smoke, soot and ash. Ultimately, though, the heavy smoke days could be wiped from the calculations from 2024, but that decision will be made at a later date.
Still, June also saw multiple high ozone days, and air quality experts say much of the pollution originates at home in Colorado and cannot be blamed on outside influences.
The out-of-state wildfire smoke sent ozone levels skyrocketing the week of July 21 to 27, Silverstein said, but it’s not the reason the numbers are high. The week prior saw ozone levels above federal standards, too, and wildfire smoke had not drifted into the region.
“Pull the wildfires out and we would probably still have had high ozone,” he said.
Jeremy Nichols, senior advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, also warned that wildfires should not be used as an excuse for the region’s air pollution.
“While the wildfires are out of our control, there is a whole bunch of air pollution we can control,” he said. “I don’t want to let that cover up the ugliness that existed here in the first place.”
Nichols blames oil and gas drilling for the region’s smog. The state is not doing enough to regulate the industry, he said.
“We actually need to recognize we are at a point where oil and gas needs to stop drilling on high ozone days,” Nichols said. “Just like we’re told to stay home on high ozone days, business as usual needs to stop. I don’t think we’ve clamped down on them and in many respects they are getting a free pass to pollute.”
One proposal would require drilling companies to eliminate emissions from pneumatic actuating devices, equipment driven by pressurized gas to open and close valves in pipelines, Silverstein said. Oil companies already are required to make 50% of those devices emission-free, and the federal government also is requiring them to be 100% emission-free by 2035. But Colorado’s proposal would accelerate the timeline, he said.
The second proposal would tell companies to stop performing blowdowns, which is when workers vent fumes from pipelines before beginning maintenance to clear explosive gases, when an ozone alert is issued, Silverstein said.
“There are thousands of these very small events, but these small events add up to significant activity,” he said.
Gabby Richmond, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the industry supports the new regulations. She said operators also were electrifying operations where possible and voluntarily delaying operational activities on high ozone days.
“Our industry values clean air, and we are committed to pioneering innovative solutions that protect our environment and make Colorado a great place to live,” Richmond said in a statement. “As a part of this commitment, we have significantly reduced ozone-causing emissions by over 50% through technology, regulatory initiatives and voluntary measures — all in the spirit of being good neighbors in the communities where we live and work.”
“Knock down emissions where we can”
Meanwhile, people who live in metro Denver and the northern Front Range are asked to do their part, too.
When the state health department issues an ozone action alert — which is a forecast for high pollution levels — people are asked to limit driving as much as possible. They also are asked to avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment until later in the day when the sun starts dropping behind the mountains and temperatures fall.
It would be easy to blame Colorado’s ozone pollution on its geography, global climate change that is raising temperatures, and pollution blowing from other countries and states, Silverstein said. But Colorado has a responsibility to do its part.
“We have 4 million people and a big oil and gas field and lots of industrial activity and all of the things related to human activity all in one concentrated location with a great mountain backdrop, but it comes with a bit of a price,” he said. “So it’s up to us to find the strategies to knock down emissions where we can.”
A 60-year-old Aurora man was arrested on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child following a police sting, according to Fort Collins police.
Roger Leon Estergaard was arrested on suspicion of internet sexual exploitation of a child, internet luring of a child and attempted sexual assault of a child, all felonies, Fort Collins police said in a news release Thursday.
Investigators claim Estergaard was identified through “inappropriate engagement with an underaged online persona” and that he traveled to Fort Collins believing he was meeting a juvenile girl for sex.
He was arrested Thursday after arriving at a predetermined meeting place, according to Fort Collins police.
Fire officials ordered evacuations in Arapahoe County Saturday after a brush fire burning southeast of Byers spread to at least one home and threatened others.
Multiple fire departments and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office responded to a brush fire Saturday morning in the 2400 block of South Quail Hollow Road, according to an 11:20 a.m. statement from the sheriff’s office.
South Metro Fire Rescue said seven crews responded to support Byers Fire Rescue in wildland and structure fire protection.
“The fire, which is currently about the size of a football field, is burning several hundred yards from homes,” sheriff’s officials said when crews first arrived on scene.
By 11:42 a.m., the fire had spread to at least one home and sheriff’s officials said more may be involved.
Deputies have evacuated a three-mile area near County Road 193 and County Road 34, sheriff’s officials said.
As of 11:45 a.m., no injuries had been reported and the fire was burning in the southeast direction.
Colorado’s senators and a congressman are demanding answers from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs leadership over a series of troubling reports about its Aurora hospital.
Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats, and Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora Democrat, sent a letter to VA leadership on Monday requesting an accounting of patient safety issues, further explanation over its current pause in surgeries due to a mysterious residue on its medical equipment, and steps the hospital has taken to address pervasive cultural problems among its staff.
“As problems persist within the (Eastern Colorado hospital system), we are increasingly concerned about the quality of care Colorado veterans receive, a lack of adherence to the required medical and employee procedures, and how recent leadership changes have impeded the system’s effectiveness,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter comes on the heels of two scathing reports from the VA’s Office of Inspector General, which investigates departmental waste, fraud and abuse.
The probes, released June 24, found Aurora’s Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center paused surgeries for more than a year in 2022 and 2023 because the hospital didn’t have the staff to care for those patients after their procedures. They never told the federal VA as required, the investigation found.
The second inspector general report said the Aurora VA suffered from poor organizational health, citing widespread fear among staff that promoted disenfranchisement. Doctors stopped performing high-risk procedures, one staffer said, for fear of punishment if something went wrong.
The investigation mirrored The Denver Post’s reporting since last fall, which found the toxic workplace and culture of fear had permeated a wide swath of departments, leading to high turnover, especially among senior leadership positions. The Post also found that the head of the hospital’s prosthetics department was instructing employees to cancel veterans’ orders to clear a large backlog. The VA later confirmed The Post’s reporting.
Bennet, Hickenlooper and Crow, in their letter, asked the VA to respond to a series of questions, including detailed queries about the mysterious residue that has halted hundreds of surgeries since April. The Post first reported in May that the hospital was rescheduling or referring to community hospitals all surgeries that rely on reusable equipment.
The elected officials also asked the VA about staffing shortages at the hospital network, along with reports that many veterans in the system have been waiting months for their first face-to-face appointment with a provider.
“We share the goal of providing veterans across the country with timely, quality and consistent health care,” the letter states. “The continuous appointment delays and ongoing quality issues at (the hospital) undermine this objective.”
One man was killed and another was seriously injured Friday during an early morning shooting according to Aurora police.
Aurora police officers responded to reports of a shooting at the Abrigo apartment complex — located at 12170 East 30th Ave. — around 12:15 a.m. Friday, according to a news release from the department.
When officers arrived at the apartment building — located near Peoria Street and down the road from Park Lane Elementary School — they found two men with gunshot wounds, the release stated.
Paramedics transported both men to the hospital, where one later died from his injuries, police said. The other man remains hospitalized.
Police originally suspected the two men had shot each other, but further investigation revealed that two unidentified suspects came into the apartment and fired multiple shots at both men, according to a 6:45 a.m. update.
Anyone with information about the shooting or the two suspects should contact Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867 or online at metrodenvercrimestoppers.com.
