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platform Mitchell used to send the messages — Mitchell also appeared to name who was with him during the incident: “Kenny, Dom, (and) Julie” — or Kenneth Gallegos, now 19; Dominic Jarrod Stager, now 19; and Juliana Alexis Serrano, now also 19.

An Arapahoe County District Court jury found Mitchell, now also 19, guilty of first-degree felony murder, attempted aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. The four-day trial concluded July 16.

Mitchell is set to be sentenced Sept. 22 and faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

‘Entire lives ahead of them’

On the night of the incident in May 2019 in east Centennial, the four suspects pulled up to Chavez’s home, where Chavez walked up to a window of the car and may have received cash from Serrano, according to court testimony. Chavez walked away without giving them the vaping product, or he was standing near the car, according to her court testimony.

Mitchell got out of the car and confronted Chavez, Serrano said according to an arrest document.

Chavez threw Mitchell onto the lawn, according to Serrano’s account, and that’s when Chavez was shot, the arrest document says. Chavez was a few inches taller than Mitchell and a bit heavier, according to court testimony in February 2020. Chavez was an accomplished rugby player.

The four suspects were in shock because they didn’t intend to shoot Chavez but, rather, threaten him with the gun if he didn’t give them the vaping product, according to what Serrano had told law enforcement.

Defense attorneys at the trial seized on Serrano for giving “seven different versions” of what happened — five to police, another account during the recent trial of Gallegos and then a seventh during Mitchell’s trial.

“These were kids. They were 17 years old — their entire lives were ahead of them,” said defense attorney Dan McGarvey. He added: “They were going to say or do anything (necessary) to save themselves.”

Stager and Serrano were both offered plea deals to testify against Mitchell and Gallegos, and in return, they were treated as juveniles in court rather than adults. Had they been prosecuted as adults like Mitchell and Gallegos, they would have faced 40 years to life in prison; instead, they received two-year sentences in juvenile settings, according to trial testimony.

Stager brought the gun, which he said he had stolen. Before Chavez died during surgery at a hospital, he told a sheriff’s deputy that “Kenny” — Gallegos — shot him and that the shooter was a junior at Cherokee Trail, according to court testimony. Serrano said it was Mitchell who shot Chavez.

Serrano and Stager were students at Cherokee Trail, and Gallegos was a Grandview High School student who had recently transferred from Cherokee Trail. Mitchell was identified in photos provided by a Cherokee Trail school resource officer.

The shooting occurred in a dark culde-sac, and the car’s back windows were tinted, “so it makes sense that (Chavez) said Kenny,” said Gwenn Sandrock, a deputy district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, at the trial.

But ultimately, it didn’t matter who pulled the trigger, the prosecution argued. That’s because a count of first-degree felony murder can be charged against anyone in a group that is allegedly involved in a serious crime in which a death occurs. The charge applies even if a particular member of the group is not believed to have directly caused the death.

“There’s no sliding scale, no apportionment of blame,” Sandrock said, adding that although Gallegos planned the attempted robbery and Stager brought the gun, they don’t get 50% and 25% of the consequences. “That is not the law.”

An Arapahoe County jury on April 9 also found Gallegos guilty of firstdegree felony murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

Under Colorado law, the mandatory penalty for a juvenile convicted of a first-class felony is life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. That’s the sentence Gallegos received on June 2.

Physical struggle

The defense argued that once Chavez and Mitchell engaged in a physical struggle, Mitchell had a right to self-defense that the jury should consider in weighing the charges.

“I do think that there are circumstances (during) an attempted robbery that the right to self-defense arises,” defense attorney Cassandra MacKenzie said, arguing that the point occurred when Chavez “swings Mitchell to the ground.”

A possible struggle over the gun “was not in the course or in furtherance of and not in immediate flight” from Mitchell’s alleged crimes, McGarvey said.

But the prosecution argued that Mitchell can’t rely on a self-defense claim because he was allegedly the initial aggressor.

He “confronts someone, points a gun,” Sandrock said, dismissing “this vague idea that maybe, maybe this was just a tragic death that was in a magical second that was not in the commission or the furtherance of this robbery.”

The prosecution pointed to DNA evidence that corroborates where every person was sitting in the car according to Stager’s and Serrano’s accounts.

Trial testimony also highlighted fresh abrasions on Chavez’s left knee, suggesting Serrano was correct that Chavez was on his hands and knees above Mitchell and that there was a fight, Sandrock said. The scrapes occurred on the day of Chavez’s death, though it was unclear exactly when, according to testimony.

The prosecution also pointed out that Mitchell does not say Gallegos was the shooter in the Snapchat messages.

Two vape pen boxes were found in the front yard of the house where Chavez was shot, said Cheyanne Stjernquist, an Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigator.

‘Complex trauma’

In court hearings to determine whether Mitchell would have the chance at a more lenient sentence, like Serrano and Stager, or remain treated as an adult, a psychologist who had analyzed Mitchell described him as suffering from “complex trauma.”

Mitchell had experienced homelessness, endured the deaths of male role models around him and lived with a mother who suffered in abusive relationships, his defenders said.

The psychologist expressed concerns about placing Mitchell in the state Department of Corrections — rather than the state Division of Youth Services — where he could be susceptible to negative influences, and she worried he wouldn’t have access to needed therapy.

“I think there’s kind of a crossroads here, where Demarea could go one way or the other,” Jessica Bartels, the psychologist, said in court in July 2020. With treatment and the proper incarceration environment, Mitchell could live a more conscientious life, she said.

But with the wrong influences, Mitchell also has potential “to become a more sophisticated criminal,” said Bartels, whose analysis assumed that Mitchell was guilty of involvement in the crime.

Judge Ben Leutwyler was not swayed at the time and denied the request to transfer the case to juvenile court.

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Kiowa Industrial Park incident led to discharge of duty weapon

BY CHANCY J. GATLIN-ANDERSON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Sgt. Mike Skalisky of the Elbert County Sheriff’s Offi ce will not face criminal charges for shooting an unarmed man on March 18 in an apparent accidental discharge of his duty weapon, prosecutors say.

The incident — as described in an offi cial letter from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Offi ce announcing the decision not to fi le charges — occurred at the Kiowa Industrial Park on Highway 86 after Deputy Eli Jarrett attempted to stop the driver for speeding. The man was driving a white Ford F350 without license plates and was clocked driving 67 mph in a 50 mph zone, the DA’s offi ce said.

The driver immediately turned in at the Kiowa Industrial Park and fl ed on foot. Deputies began searching multiple nearby structures, including shipping containers, freight boxes, sheds and portable toilets around the businesses in the industrial park, prosecutors said.

Skalisky responded to a call for assistance. While searching for the man, Skalisky looked under a tarp in a dog-kennel-sized demonstration model of a truck box, a space that appeared to be too small to conceal a person, and was startled to fi nd the driver there curled into the fetal position, the DA’s offi ce said.

Skalisky told investigators that the surprise of a sudden movement upon fi nding the driver in the small space caused him to jump back, at which time his duty weapon discharged.

A single round from Skalisky’s 9mm Glock 34 passed through the hiding man’s abdomen and then entered his thigh, causing what a physician described as a noncritical fl esh wound because it hit no vital organs, the DA’s offi ce said. The man underwent exploratory surgery at Parker Adventist Hospital and was released the next day.

The letter from the district attorney’s offi ce described Skalinsky’s explanation of the incident by saying that “he did not intend to shoot Mr. H, and he explained the discharge as an involuntary or ‘sympathetic discharge’ resulting from simultaneously clenching and pulling the tarp with his left hand while holding his duty weapon in his right hand.”

“The question here is not so much the appropriate voluntary use of force but the criminal ramifi cations of an unintended, accidental discharge of a fi rearm,” the DA’s letter said. “In light of the insuffi cient evidence for a likelihood of conviction beyond a reasonable doubt, and the inability to prove that this shooting was the product a conscious voluntary act or even to establish the least culpable of mental states, charges are not warranted based on the evidence.”

The DA’s offi ce therefore determined: “There is not a reasonable likelihood of success at trial and, therefore, no criminal charges are recommended.”

The demo truck box where the unarmed man was found.

COURTESY OF 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

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Three-sport athlete prepares for cross country

Aidyn Woodall says soccer is her favorite

BY JIM BENTON JBENTON@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Aidyn Woodall has high hopes for the upcoming girls cross country season.

Woodall is a three-sport senior athlete at Douglas County High School in Castle Rock and participates in cross country, basketball and soccer.

And soccer, she says, would be her pick if she were forced to choose among the three sports.

“Honestly, soccer is my favorite sport and cross country is defi nitely a very close second,” Woodall said. “I am currently looking at both for college, soccer as my main and cross country as a backup. I’m hoping to continue both in college and see where that leads me.

“I’m an outside winger (in soccer), which is a running position, so the sports are sort of intertwined. I love going out and scoring goals, more than just running. It has a bigger purpose.”

That’s in the future, but for now she is working hard to get ready for the cross country season.

Woodall is a three-time regional champion, made the All-State team all three seasons and was 13th in last season’s state meet.

“I ran track last season, which ran late into June,” she explained. “So I was doing that in June, so that was a little bit of cross country training but not what we really need. So I just started back doing morning training, like four to fi ve miles a day. We will start doing sprints in a couple weeks, that’s part of base training like every other day. I will do some track workouts like 800s and repeats.

“Once I get those couple miles done, it just feels so nice. That’s what I enjoy cross country for. I just got done with an hour and half practice for soccer so sometimes I wonder if it is a little much, but it usually isn’t a problem. Overtraining hasn’t really been an issue.”

Woodall had some of her best cross country times during her freshman and sophomore seasons.

“I’ve made state every year since my freshman year so that’s always the goal,” said Woodall. “As far as time, I would like to keep sub 19 the whole season and just work closer to than lower 18 number. I would say my freshman year I was a lot faster and had faster times.”

This season Woodall wants to improve on more than just the physical part of cross country running.

“I just have to improve the mentality about it all and get in a better mindset before races because I know what I’m capable of and I just need to get that in my head more before races,” she said. “During races it is always a battle to keep going.

“Cross county is a team sport but its more individual. It’s different than the other sports I do and it is harder to get in the mindset and really focus on running a race.”

Senior Aidyn Woodall, who is a three-sport athlete at Douglas County High School.

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Standout o ensive tackle goes college shopping

Jake Maikkula still has senior year of high school ahead

BY JIM BENTON JBENTON@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Valor Christian’s Jake Maikkula is a highly regarded football player who was all over the United States in June.

Maikkula, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound senior offensive tackle, has been working hard in team workouts and in the weight room but he had to do that between offi cial and unoffi cial visits to eight colleges during June.

He’s stopped to look at schools such as California, Colorado, Duke, Nebraska, Missouri and Virginia among his recruiting visits, and he’s received offers from 29 different college football programs.

“I would just like to improve my game throughout this season and get myself in great shape to go off to college,” said Maikkula, a rising senior at Valor. “I’m still working on fi guring it out where to go but I played much as a center.

“I’ll play anywhere as long as I can get out onto the fi eld,” he added.

In the meantime he’s been preparing for the upcoming season and hopes some type of normality returns to the game after the COVID concerns last fall.

“I’m excited to play in the outof-state games we have planned this season,” Maikkula said. “We couldn’t do that last year because of COVID.”

Valor, with star running back Gavin Sawchuk, Maikkula and linebacker Jordan Norwood among the standouts who will be returning for another season, should be one of the state’s best Class 5A teams.

“I think we have the best team in the state without a doubt,” said Maikkula. “We have incredible talent and an incredible hard-working team. We have a great group to be around and I just enjoy showing up every day and working with the guys. I’m excited for it to pan out this year.

“We’ll play our game and we’ll be all set. We’ve got everything lined up and we just have to go out and work hard.”

Jake Maikkula COURTESY OF VALOR CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL

CU-Denver gets grant as part of project to make degree programs more accessible

BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT COLORADO

The University of Colorado-Denver is launching a statewide effort to make it easier for new and existing early childhood teachers to earn college degrees.

The university won a $2.3 million grant from a funders group called the Early Educator Investment Collaborative to bring together a coalition of university, community college, and state leaders over the next 2 1/2 years. The kickoff meeting was held at the beginning of July.

The effort unfolds at a pivotal time in Colorado, with planning for a new early childhood agency and a statefunded universal preschool program underway. It also comes amid a pandemic that spotlighted the importance of early childhood teachers, but also the low pay and long hours that can put college classes out of reach for many of them.

Kristie Kauerz, the director of CU Denver’s National P-3 Center, said research increasingly indicates that a college degree, especially one focused on early childhood, boosts education quality for young children. College degrees also bolster the early childhood workforce’s argument for higher wages, she said.

The grant project aims to make Colorado’s degree programs more accessible to early childhood teachers, ensure that the curriculum offered is high quality and culturally relevant, and institute policy reforms to help sustain improvements long-term.

In Colorado, there are a variety of ways to become an early childhood teacher, ranging from earning a two-year or four-year degree to taking various non-college training courses. But Kauerz said noncollege trainings often must be repeated every few years and don’t earn teachers college credit.

“It’s just this hamster wheel of taking professional learning but it never actually builds to a degree,” she said.

Still, Kauerz said it’s often inconvenient and diffi cult for early childhood teachers to earn a degree.

“You’re in a classroom (teaching) for 10 hours a day and then you’re supposed to go to class on a campus?” With this grant, she said, “Higher ed is saying we’re willing to change how we make degrees available to teachers.”

Besides CU-Denver, higher education participants in the project include Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and the state’s community college system. Representatives from the state’s education department, higher education department, offi ce of early childhood, Early Childhood Leadership Commission, and governor’s offi ce will also participate.

The grant will pay for a new position at the Colorado Department of Higher Education: the director of early childhood education workforce policy. Sondra Ranum, who previously worked at Teach for America Colorado and the Colorado Department of Education, started in that role July 6. Kauerz said the grant will also pay for “success coaches” who will advise students seeking early childhood degrees at participating colleges and universities.

CU-Denver was among six recipients nationwide to receive a grant from the Early Educator Investment Collaborative to improve early childhood teacher preparation systems. The collaborative consists of eight foundations, including the Bezos Family Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (Both foundations are funders of Chalkbeat.)

The University of Colorado Denver is seen in the foreground against the city skyline.

COURTESY OF CU DENVER

This story is from Chalkbeat Colorado, a nonprofi t news site covering educational change in public schools. Used by permission. For more, and to support Chalkbeat, visit co.chalkbeat.org.

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