Todd Lynn Washington, 42, was convicted of reckless endangerment in August, but the Denver jury could not reach a verdict on first-degree murder charges in the case.
Washington’s second trial was held this month, and on Monday, a Denver jury ruled he was guilty of two lesser counts of manslaughter and not guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, court records show.
He was sentenced to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections by Denver District Court Judge Eric Johnson on Wednesday, with credit for nearly 2 years of time served while his case was ongoing.
Washington was also sentenced to 240 days in jail for two counts of reckless endangerment, both misdemeanors.
Washington’s attorney, Anna Geigle with the Denver law firm Geigle Morales, in a statement thanked the jury and court “for their professionalism and commitment to ensuring that justice was fairly administered.”
“The subject matter of this case was profoundly serious, and we deeply appreciate the time and care each juror devoted to hearing the evidence and reaching a verdict,” Geigle said.
In a statement, Denver District Attorney John Walsh said his office respects the jury’s decision and “are pleased that Todd Washington and Shon McPherson – who was sentenced in September to life in prison for his role in the murders — are being held accountable for their crimes.”
Washington and McPherson, 34, were arrested in November 2023 after police said the pair opened fire outside Hell’s Lovers Motorcycle Club, killing Michael David, 43, and Joshua Batts, 39, and injuring three others.
Washington and McPherson were accused of planning the shooting after a security guard put his hands on Washington’s daughter and she was kicked out of the club.
The Denver District Attorney’s Office failed to share police records with defense attorneys in as many as 756 criminal cases since 2022, potentially violating court discovery rules, a probe by the office found.
The prosecutors’ discovery software for years diverted Denver Police Department files that included a forward slash in the file name into an “error log that prosecutors were not aware of and could not access,” according to a statement from the office this week and notifications sent to defense attorneys in September.
The misrouted files were not shared with defendants — a potential violation of discovery rules, which require prosecutors to disclose evidence to defendants during a criminal case. The district attorney’s office uncovered what it called a “technical issue” with the software as it reviewed its own practices amid mounting serious sanctions for discovery violations across Colorado.
It was not immediately clear whether all of the files that were diverted into the error log were required to be disclosed to defendants, DA spokesman Matt Jablow said in a statement. But the office nevertheless notified defense attorneys and started the process of sharing all the files “out of caution and to avoid any delay,” he said.
“The DA’s office produced the files, even though, in many of those cases… the information appears to have been produced in a different format, may not have been legally required to be produced, or both,” he said in the statement.
Many of the misplaced files “contained information related to a defendant’s arrest, such as booking photos,” Jablow said. The error log issue most frequently impacted records that included dates in the file names, according to the notification sent to attorneys.
The impact of the technical glitch will vary from case to case depending on the severity of the case, the information in the undisclosed files and how far along in the legal process the case is, said Colin McCallin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.
Little is likely to change for defendants who have already pleaded guilty and served their sentences in less serious cases, like misdemeanors and petty offenses, he said. But there could be a bigger impact in ongoing prosecutions or more serious cases.
“Obviously, if the evidence is exculpatory, if it suggests the person didn’t commit the crime, that is a big deal; that can lead to serious sanctions,” McCallin said. “…If it is a minor violation, like, ‘Oh, we didn’t get the person’s full criminal history or mugshot’ — that’s probably not going to be a big deal. I would imagine in most lower-level felony cases or misdemeanor cases, I don’t know if anything will happen at all. A lot of those folks will have moved on.”
If the undisclosed material includes exculpatory evidence, it could prompt judges to dismiss cases or defendants to seek post-conviction relief, he added. Judges in ongoing cases might also consider sanctions against prosecutors for the discovery violations alone, regardless of what type of evidence was not disclosed, McCallin said.
“It really does sound like this was a computer issue; it’s not like the DA’s office was sitting on evidence intentionally or purposely withholding evidence,” he said. “I don’t think anyone thinks that. But the problem is, it is still a discovery violation.”
Angela Campbell, co-chair of the Denver chapter of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said the district attorney’s public statements about the software issue have inappropriately minimized the potential impact of the discovery violations.
“The Denver DA’s statement is concerning because it seems to fail to take accountability for the serious discovery violations committed by their office,” she said, adding that defense attorneys are just starting to investigate the missing files and it is too early to know the full impact of the misrouted records.
“Nobody is saying that every single discovery violation was tantamount to a Brady violation — a failure to produce exculpatory evidence — but minimizing the discovery violations that occurred, first of all by saying, ‘Well, it was over 756 cases’ — they’re not just cases. These are 756 human beings,” she said. “People, presumably, who went to prison and endured serious consequences for what may or may not have been material discovery violations that would have impacted the cases. The truth is, right now, that I don’t think we know. And I don’t think they know.”
In a statement, Denver District Attorney John Walsh said prosecutors took “rapid steps” to fix the discovery issue as soon as they recognized it.
“The Denver DA’s Office is fully committed to providing complete discovery to the defense in every case and understands its responsibility to ensure that software issues of this kind do not arise,” he said in the statement.
Campbell questioned why it took prosecutors three years to find the software issue, and compared the situation to the case of now-fired Colorado Bureau of Investigation scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods, who is accused of mishandling DNA testing in more than 1,000 criminal cases during her 29-year career.
“This is the concern that every criminal defense attorney has, which is, is this going to be another Missy Woods debacle where we don’t know the extent?” she said. “And that’s the problem. When you undermine trust in a public institution, it’s really hard to get back. And that’s why accountability is so important.”
A man accused of forcing women into prostitution in Denver took a plea deal and will spend nearly two decades in prison, according to court records.
Stefon Flowers coerced at least four women into prostitution for his financial gain over the course of three months in 2023, according to a news release from the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
He forced the women to take photos that he used for sexual advertisements online and, as buyers responded, would set up the date, according to the release. He then would take the women to the date and wait in the car while it happened.
“Flowers removed any control that the women had by threatening them if they did not behave as he instructed,” Denver District Attorney officials stated in the release. “After the dates, Flowers required the women to give him at least part of the money that they had made.”
Flowers took a deal and pleaded guilty to two counts of pimping in August, a felony, according to court records. That deal dropped three charges of human trafficking and five additional counts of pimping from his case.
One of the victims described Flowers’s operation as a “full-blown prostitution ring,” and said multiple women were living in his apartment who were not allowed to leave without Flowers, according to his arrest affidavit.
She told investigators that she tried to leave multiple times, but she didn’t make it out of the parking lot before Flowers caught up and dragged her back inside his apartment, according to the affidavit.
“Stefon Flowers preyed upon vulnerable women to satisfy his own greed,” Denver District Attorney John Walsh said in a statement. “As his sentence shows, if you engage in human trafficking in Denver, you will be caught and prosecuted, and pay a heavy price under the law.”
ASBURY PARK — The boy’s frightened cries for help echoed down the block, louder than the roar of the flames consuming the house he was trapped in.
Joseph Dunbar of Neptune was riding his bicycle down Prospect Avenue when he heard the cries for help. So did Asbury Park Officer Dewitt Bacon, when he arrived on the scene of the burning home.
It was 8:45 a.m. Heavy smoke was billowing out the second floor, as large flames of fire burst through a first-floor window, climbing higher toward the second floor with each passing minute.
As Bacon, 33, ran toward the fire, he could hear the child crying for help from the side of the house.
“Where you at?” the officer yelled.
“Up here,” the terrified boy cried out.
“So intially I run to the back window. I try to just get eyes on him, so I yell to him to get the window, he gets to the window, and at this point I am thinking I have to get him out of there,” Bacon said. “The fire is going, it is smoking, just break it out. Break the window as fast as you can and try to get through.”
“Me and Officer Bacon arrived at the same time. I was on a bike and he was in car. I heard the kid yelling from all the way up the block,” Dunbar, 35, said.
The 8-year old was able to rip the screen and get his two legs out first.
“I am just hoping that he trusts me enough to catch him because I know in his mind it is two bad situations. If he stays in there, it’s smoking. If he comes out he might fall and also hurt himself,” Bacon said.
When Officer John Walsh, 29, arrived on the scene, he said he started to hear the screaming from the side of the house.
“I came around the corner, I see Officer Bacon and Joe (Dunbar), and I just see feet hanging out of a window. So, at that point I realize there is a kid up there and he is trying to get out,” Walsh said.
Dunbar wanted to keep the 8-year old calm as much as possible. He said he was only thinking “just save the kid” but contemplated climbing on the air conditioning unit right below the second floor window to break the juvenile’s fall.
“He goes to the church I go to, right next door to his house,” Dunbar said.
The three men pleaded with the boy, whose legs were dangling out the window, to jump before he passed out from the smoke.
”Jump!” the men begged the boy. “Jump! We got you, we got you.”
“Jump! We’re right here. Jump!”
“Jump! Get you through, brother. We’re right here! Jump!”
”Just jump! Come on, just do it. Jump! Jump!”
The boy then jumped and was caught safely by the officers. Then Walsh ran him to the curb to make sure he was still breathing as he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
“It was almost like catching a punt on a football field,” Walsh said. “At that point I just kind of picked him up, said let’s go kid, threw him over my shoulder and ran.”
The mother of the child was on her way home from work.
An image from Asbury Park Police Officer John Walsh’s body camera footage of the rescue of an 8-year-old child from a house fire in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on Monday, August 25, 2025.
“I am just happy he trusted us enough to fall into our arms,” Bacon said.
Dunbar said “that was a brave kid.”
“In that situation he didn’t know what to do. He was scared. We talked to him and he listened to the calmness in our voices. That is what he needed,” Dunbar said.
Sgt. Michael Casey said, “In this day and age it has become very common when an incident like this happens that people stay in the background.”
“They’re inclined to be on their cell phone filming instead as opposed to stepping up and helping out,” Casey said. “Joseph Dunbar should be commended, with Officer Walsh and Officer Bacon, they were able to talk this young man out of the window, and he fell to safety.”
Bacon has been with the department since 2016 and Walsh since 2018.
An image from Asbury Park Police Officer Dewitt Bacon’s body camera footage of the rescue of an 8-year-old child from a house fire in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on Monday, August 25, 2025.
The men who saved the child agree there was no time left despite the fire trucks being a couple of minutes away.
“With the amount of smoke and the fire rising every two seconds, I doubt it,” Dunbar said. “(The fire) came through the front door within seconds of us arriving. When we arrived, it already came and knocked out the side widow. That is what made us notice the side because (the fire) blew out the side. He didn’t have minutes.”
The fire department immediately transported the 8-year old to Jersey Shore Medical Center for treatment of smoke inhalation and a further medical evaluation.
“There were already people that had safely evacuated, since it is a two-family home,” Bacon said. “I believe the fire probably began on the bottom. So those two gentlemen had already left the house, and this young juvenile was upstairs sleeping and just happened to wake up.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Monmouth County Fire Marshals, in coordination with the Asbury Park Fire Department and Asbury Park Police Department.
Asbury Park Social Services and the American Red Cross responded to assist the residents with immediate needs and housing.
The two officers said it is all about trust with the community.
Joseph Dunbar of Neptune Township and Asbury Park police officers John Walsh and Dewitt Bacon talk about their heroic rescue of an 8-year-old child from an Asbury Park house fire on August 25th during a press conference at Asbury Park City Hall on August 26, 2025.
“That kid trusted us to get him out of that window. Thankfully, he did jump,” Walsh said. “I think that is something that all parents should be able to tell their kids, that they can trust us. We are their last line of life right there and we got him out that window.”
The child is expected to make a full recovery.
Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com
Pa Reh, 21, will spend the rest of his life in the Colorado Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole, the mandatory sentence after he was convicted of first-degree murder by a Denver jury in July.
Kaing, 42, was unloading dessert from her car outside her family’s apartment building when Reh and three others began shooting at a passing car driven by people they had a dispute with.
She died at the scene in her son’s arms.
Kaing’s family, friends and community have described her as a vital part of the East Colfax neighborhood, where she served on the neighborhood association’s board of directors, volunteered at a nearby food bank and was quick to help anyone in need.
Kaing and her family had opened Taw Win Thai and Burmese Restaurant just six months before her death.
“Her murder was an unspeakable tragedy for her family, for her immigrant community and, frankly, for all of us in Denver,” Denver District Attorney John Walsh said in a statement Friday. “…That sentence cannot bring Ma Kaing back, but it can send the powerful message that violence will not be tolerated in Denver.”
A second man charged with first-degree murder in Kaing’s shooting, Lu Reh, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in May. Two others, Nu La and Swa Bay, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in July and have sentencing hearings set for September.
