Prosecutors charge teen in fatal stabbing

Boulder DA seeks to try 15-year-old boy as an adult

Boulder County prosecutors on Wednesday charged a 15year-old boy in juvenile court with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Longmont resident Makayla Grote, then requested the case be moved to district court.

There, the teen — Aiden von Grabow of Lakewood — would be tried as an adult in the fatal stabbing of the 19-year-old Grote on Saturday evening at her Longmont apartment.

A separate transfer hearing was scheduled for March 5-7, at which time a judge will consider the motion to move the juvenile case to district court. Because the boy is under the age of 16, the district attorney could not directly file adult charges.

Von Grabow was charged with 11 counts, including firstdegree murder, and three counts of attempted murder for pursuing Grote’s sister and at least two other people on his alleged “death list.”

The teen also was charged with felony menacing, harassment and five charges that would extend his sentence length should he plead guilty or be convicted at trial.

The Times-Call and Daily Camera do not generally identify juvenile defendants in criminal cases, but have chosen to do so in this instance because of the severity of the allegations and the Boulder County district attorney’s decision to pursue adult charges.

Von Grabow was arrested seven hours after police allege he stabbed Grote in the head and chest at her apartment at The Shores at McIntosh Lake. She later died at Longmont United Hospital.

Prosecutors say von Grabow created a “death list” with Grote’s younger sister listed at the top. The sister was at Grote’s apartment showering when Grote was stabbed, and prosecutors allege von Grabow pursued the younger sister, too.

In court Wednesday, Judge Andrew Macdonald again ruled that von Grabow be kept in shackles, despite public defender Alec Egizi arguing the handcuffs around the teen’s wrists, waist and feet were prejudicial.