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to introduce his plucky troupe of acrobats and performers.

“Dreams have a way of bringing good people together,” Venardos said.

Performers included aerialists and acrobats Lexi Powell, Eric Allen, Lady Beast, and husbandand-wife team Duo Acosta, performing a dizzying array of stunts, culminating in a Houdini-esque straitjacket escape.

The old-school circus performs beneath a classic redand-white striped tent, and the whole shebang carries a vintage

SEE CIRCUS, P7

Venardos Circus founder and ringmaster Kevin Venardos warms up the

crowd. PHOTOS BY DAVID GILBERT

Husband-and-wife team Duo Acosta put on an exciting act.

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Manuel Acosta attaches a harness to Lady Beast as she prepares for a daring straitjacket

escape. PHOTOS BY DAVID GILBERT

Spectators watch an aerial act.

vaudeville fl air.

In an age with plenty of ways to be entertained, Venardos Circus commanded a captivated and giddy audience, who at the end of the show leaped to their feet for a standing ovation.

“It was just the perfect welcome back to living life again,” said Karin Leonard, who brought her mom and a friend for one of their fi rst outings in ages. “What a circus. When I retire I’m running away to join them.”

Venardos told the crowd that the magic of the circus is a chance to remember the joy of connection.

“The way the last year has gone, it felt like we’ve been looking away from each other,” he said. “But when you look at the faces of these performers, they’re of people who are different sizes and shapes and colors working together to make something we hope you fi nd beautiful. We hope it reminds you of yourselves, your families, your community. You can make something special too.”

Venardos Circus will host numerous performances in Littleton through July 24, though tickets are quickly growing scarce. From there the show will move on to Longmont and Colorado Springs.

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The Arapahoe County Justice Center at 7325 S. Potomac St. in Centennial, the county’s main courthouse, is seen in a

fi le photo. PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD Lloyd Chavez IV in an undated photo. COURTESY PHOTO Teen found guilty in killing of Cherokee Trail student

Demarea Mitchell is last of 4 suspects in murder of Lloyd Chavez IV

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The trial of a teen suspected of fatally shooting a Cherokee Trail High School student in Centennial began with the prosecution displaying social media messages that appear to show him admitting involvement.

Things “didn’t go as planned and it was the only choice. I’m sorry,” Demarea Deshawn Mitchell allegedly wrote to a person who may have been his girlfriend an hour after Lloyd Alvin Chavez IV, 18, was shot during an attempted robbery of vaping products that Chavez sold.

The morning after the shooting that occurred May 8, 2019, Mitchell sent someone a video that shows him holding a gun, in an attempt to transfer the weapon to another person, according to the prosecution in the trial that took place this July.

On Snapchat — the social media 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.

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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.

SEE TRIAL, P18

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