SCHOOL SHOOTING CASE MOVES TOWARD TRIAL

Judge says probable cause exists for all 44 felony counts against Devon Erickson

Devon Erickson faces 44 felony charges.

The judge overseeing the case of one of the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting suspects pointed to a two-word Snapchat message sent immediately before the fatal gunfire as the most persuasive evidence she’d seen so far.

“Go now,” the message from Devon Erickson to his co-defendant read. Almost immediately after the message was sent, surveillance camera footage showed students fleeing down hallways, abandoning backpacks and projects they had been working on.

Douglas County District Court Judge Theresa Slade said Wednesday that the message and other information revealed during a two-day hearing constituted enough evidence to move Erickson’s case toward trial. Slade ruled that probable cause existed for all 44 felony charges Erickson faces, including first-degree murder.

“The evidence that has been presented today is that there was a plan,” Slade said.

Testimony from the lead detective investigating the shooting offered the first glimpse of the evidence against Erickson and the other shooting suspect, Alec McKinney.

Throughout the hearing, Erickson’s attorneys highlighted evidence that supported Erickson’s claim that McKinney had forced him to participate in the shooting and that he complied out of fear for his life. Prosecutors pointed to discrepancies between Erickson’s account and those of his codefendant and other friends.

Slade highlighted evidence that she found compelling as she described her reasoning for moving the charges forward. Erickson, dressed in a red jail jumpsuit, looked at Slade as she explained.

The judge pointed to surveillance camera footage that showed Erickson and McKinney doing a friendly handshake and a fist bump after arriving at the school shortly before the shooting. She also pointed out multiple instances where Erickson could have told a friend or an adult about McKinney’s plans but did not, including when Erickson was alone with school staff for more than 10 minutes before the shooting.

There was no evidence that Erickson attempted to stop or dissuade McKinney from his plans the day of shooting, Slade said. Instead, she said, Erickson fulfilled his role guarding one of the classroom’s exits and fired a gun.

“He knew there was going to be a shooting in classroom 107,” she said. “He knew there were specific people who were going to get killed.”

Kendrick Castillo, 18, was killed in the May 7 shooting at the char

ter school and eight other students were injured. It’s not certain who fired the bullet that killed Castillo because the FBI has not completed its ballistics testing.

John Castillo, Kendrick’s father, said after the hearing that he was pleased by the judge’s decision. The day before, he told reporters that Erickson’s account that he was forced into the shooting is a lie.

“Justice for Kendrick means the perpetrators of these crimes are held responsible to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

During his closing argument for the hearing, 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler pointed to multiple parts of the suspects’ statements to police that do not match, including conflicting accounts of who wrote the graffiti on a closet wall at the Erickson family home. The students allegedly snorted cocaine, vandalized the house and stole guns from a safe before the school shooting, prosecutors said.

Brauchler also focused on discrepancies over Erickson’s role in loading the guns. Erickson said McKinney knew how to do it by himself, but McKinney said Erickson taught him how to load the weapons.

Brauchler said despite defense attorneys’ argument that Erickson complied with McKinney only because he had been threatened, evidence showed that Erickson did nothing to stop McKinney once he learned of the plan.

Defense attorney David Kaplan in his final argument Wednesday said there was not enough evidence to prove Erickson intended to kill anybody to support first-degree murder charges. Kaplan also argued the teen shouldn’t face some of the charges related to the students in the room who were not injured.

Brauchler also revealed that the gun allegedly used by Erickson in the shooting jammed during the incident, preventing the shooter from firing more bullets.

Although Erickson told police that he fired his handgun accidentally only once, investigators found four bullet casings that matched the caliber of his weapon. One of the casings did not eject properly and jammed the gun, Brauchler said.

“The only reason there weren’t more bullets fired out of that gun is because it malfunctioned,” Brauchler said.

As Erickson left the courtroom Wednesday, he glanced briefly at his parents seated in the crowd.

Erickson is scheduled to appear for his arraignment on Dec. 6, when he will enter pleas to the charges.

McKinney is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 18. Both suspects remain in custody without the opportunity for bond.