DENVER— On Friday, March 10, 2023, Nicholas Lujan (age 29) pleaded guilty to one count of Second Degree Murder in connection with the 2015 murder of Mr. Jose Frias-Olivas. Mr. Frias-Olivas, then 61 years old, was visiting family in Denver at the time of his death. On the morning of August 15, 2015, he had…

DENVER—Just before 3:00 a.m. on May 28, 2021, Denver police officers responded to a shooting and found Gary Vincent McLaughlin (age 35) lying in the street at 11th Avenue and Sherman Street suffering from gunshot wounds. Mr. McLaughlin was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. After a thorough investigation, Donald Gonzales was arrested and…

DENVER—After deliberating for one day, a Denver jury found Neshan Johnson (current age 20) guilty in the murder of 32-year old Pamela Cabriales. Ms. Cabriales was shot and killed while sitting in her car on February 20, 2021, at Colfax Avenue and I-25 in Denver. Neshan Johnson was 18-years-old at the time he and a…

DENVER—Last week, a Denver grand jury indicted 13 individuals on 255 felony counts for alleged crimes involving 113 victims after a multi-year investigation by RAVEN, the Regional Anti-Violence Enforcement Network. As a result, the Denver District Attorney’s office has now opened criminal cases against each individual. According to the indictment, the 13 individuals were all…

DENVER—After deliberating for approximately five hours, a Denver jury found John Affourtit (age 37) guilty of killing a three-year-old boy on September 25, 2018.  Prosecutors with the Denver District Attorney’s Office charged Affourtit with killing his girlfriend’s son at an apartment that the couple shared in the 900 block of S. Dahlia Street. The Denver…

DENVER—On February 20, 2023, the body of Mr. Kenneth Dellamaestra (age 48) was found by Denver Police Department officers in a parking lot behind 6565 East Evans Avenue. On March 1, 2023, the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide and concluded that Dellamaestra died from a gunshot wound. Today, Denver…

DENVER—Denver DA Beth McCann today announced that after reviewing the officer-involved shooting incident from November 28, 2022, no criminal charges will be filed against the Denver Police Department officer who shot Mr. Daniel Cheeseman. DA McCann concluded that the officer who shot Cheeseman in the sally port of the Denver Detention Center accurately assessed the…

DENVER—Terri Turachak was 35-years-old when her body was found in her apartment on October 5, 1996, by Denver police and medical personnel. According to the autopsy report, Ms. Turachak died from strangulation and blunt force trauma to her head. A significant lead was developed years later when DNA associated with the murder was matched to…

DENVER—Prosecutors with the Denver District Attorney’s Office today announced that criminal cases have been filed against four adult males and two juvenile males for their alleged roles in an aggravated armed double carjacking that occurred last month in Cherry Creek. Josiah McCray (age 19), Jurdon Bryant-Beasley (age 19), Elrich Haliburton (age 18), Nyariee Richardson (age…

DENVER–A series of new reports provide Colorado District Attorneys’ Offices with a more in-depth understanding of racial and ethnic differences in their prosecution processes. The reports were developed through the Colorado Prosecutorial Dashboards project. It follows the pilot phase of the project in which eight Colorado District Attorneys’ Offices developed publicly-available data dashboards to promote…