North Jeffco
Westsider
North Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 11, Issue 47
November 30, 2012
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwestminsternews.com
Sigg transferred to county jail Defendant waives right to challenge being prosecuted as an adult By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com A Jefferson County judged ruled Tuesday to transfer Austin Sigg from a juvenile facility to the Jefferson County Detentions Facility. The decision came after nearly two hours of testimony and was made effective immediately. Sigg, 17, is charged with murdering 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway of Westminster. Alicia Calderon from the Attorney General’s Office filed the petition for the transfer on behalf of the Department of Youth Corrections. She told 1st Judicial District Chief Judge Stephen Munsinger it would be more appropriate to house Sigg in the Special Housing Unit of the Jefferson County Detention Facility because of the opportunities available to him in the adult facility. Sigg was previously housed at Mount View Youth Services Center in Denver.
“There are more educational and recreational opportunities for Mr. Sigg in the adult facility that will benefit him,” she said. “Plus, Mr. Sigg will be turning 18 on Jan. 17 next year, and we would be asking to transfer him then anyways.” During his time at Mount View, Sigg was held in isolation under constant supervision. Dave Maynard, facilities director for the Department of Youth Corrections, testified that Sigg Sigg was never let out in the general population of the other juveniles in the facility in order to keep both Sigg and the other juveniles safe and secure. He said the decision to keep Sigg in isolation and under observation was an internal decision, not court ordered. He said the youth facility is not set up for long-term isolation cases, with most juveniles only spending a few hours at a time in isolation as a “cooling down period.” He said Sigg did not have access to the recreation services on a regular basis because of his isolation and was not receiving any educational ser-
vices. “Our educational services are provided by Jefferson County Public Schools, and they are not legally required to provide educational services to detained youth who have obtained their GED, which is what Mr. Sigg has done,” Maynard said. Sigg’s defense team argued that during the time that Sigg was at Mount View he was never disruptive, disrespectful or caused any problems for the staff. Melanie Lemuz, a security officer at Mount View, testified that she had developed a good rapport with Sigg, meeting with him almost every day of the week. She said during his time at Mount View, he had no behavior problems and was respectful toward the staff. Now that Sigg will be housed in the Special Housing Unit, he will have access to recreation, educational and church services. Capt. Gary Gittins with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department testified that the housing unit has an indoor and outdoor recreation yard and a library that Sigg can utilize. He said Sigg will also have access to a chaplain or can request to meet with his own personal preacher. “Mr. Sigg will be assigned a counselor
and we also have a psychologist and psychiatrist available if needed,” Gittins said. Also during the hearing, the defense team waived Sigg’s right for a reverse transfer hearing, which would have challenged the prosecution’s decision to try him as an adult rather than a juvenile. As an adult, Sigg could face life in prison with parole after 40 years. He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, two kidnapping charges, one count of sexual assault on a child and a robbery charge also connected to the Ridgeway murder. He faces one count of criminal attempt of sexual assault and one count of criminal attempt of kidnapping connected to the attempted abduction of a woman running around Ketner Lake in Westminster. Ridgeway disappeared on Oct. 5 while walking to Chelsea Park in Westminster to meet up with friends before walking to school. Her body was found days later in the Pattridge Park Open Space area in Arvada. Sigg’s mother made the call to police that led to his arrest. A status conference will be 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12, followed by the preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 22.
Students draw for a purpose By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcolorado news.com Art students at Mandalay Middle School in Westminster are taking extra pride in their recent art project. The students are involved in the Memory Project, a unique initiative that connects art students with children around the world who have been neglected, orphaned or disadvantaged through portraits. “What happens is we received a photos of orphaned children, in this case from Rwanda, and the students then draw a portrait of the photo,” said Amy Laydon, art teacher at Mandalay. “Then we
ship the photos back to Rwanda for the children to keep as a memory.” Laydon’s eighth-grade art students have been working on their portraits for a couple of weeks. She said this project is a nice change to the typical self-portrait activity, which students have been doing since kindergarten. The students also have the task of raising $15 in order to be able to ship the portraits back to Rwanda. “The Memory Project gives the students a sense of life halfway around the world and how lucky they are to have everything they do in the United States,” Laydon said. “It’s also a great alternative to just doing another self-portrait project, too.”
From left, Tony Price and Alex Bumpus work on their pieces for the Memory Project in Amy Laydon’s art class at Mandalay Middle School.
Maraena Ortiz works on her piece for the Memory Project in Amy Laydon’s art class at Mandalay Middle School. The projects is an initiative in which art students create portraits for children around the world who have been neglected, orphaned or disadvantaged. Laydon’s students will be sending their portraits to children in Rwanda. Photos by Ashley Reimers
For Landon Warriner the project has been fun and challenging at the same time. He said because he is making a portrait for someone else, there is more pressure to make it the best he can. “When I got the picture I thought it would be hard just figuring out how I was going to process it,” Warriner said. “But I like drawing for a purpose. It makes it a lot more fun,” Warriner said. “ Fallin Smith also felt the pressure. She said this portrait is a gift to a child and she wants to make it something special. “It makes you kind of nervous, so you try harder,” she said. “Ms. Laydon said that kids don’t have very many pictures of themselves, so the fact that we are drawing from one of their only photos means a lot.” The portraits will be on display in the school before they are sent to Rwanda in March. For more information on the Memory Project, visit www. memoryproject.org.
Landon Warriner works on his piece for the Memory Project in Amy Laydon’s art class at Mandalay Middle School.
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