Court docs detail alleged abuse leading to July double-homicide

Officials remind people to look for signs, call for help

A Loveland woman alleged both verbal and physical abuse over the past year in court filings, but a judge denied her repeated requests for a protection order against the man suspected of killing her and her teenage daughter a month after her last request.

Four other children, all under 14 and witnesses to the violence, were left behind.

The Reporter-herald recently received several court documents from the 8th Judicial District Court connecting 49-year-old Javier Acevedo Jr., the suspect in the murder-suicide, to 41-year-old Lindsay Daum, who was killed alongside her daughter, 16-year-old Meadow Sinner, at a home in the 300 block of Pavo Court July 28.

Daum, a loving mother as described by family in a Gofundme post aimed at raising money for the family, and Sinner, described as “one of the most beautiful and vibrant souls we have ever met,” lived with their family in a home in the 300 block of Pavo Court. Throughout the past year, they had been dealing with, what court records show, was a pattern of domestic violence.

Records received from the court show that Daum had filed at least two requests for a protection order against Acevedo, citing continued domestic violence as her reasoning. The documents also reveal the basis for criminal charges against the man described in court records as Daum’s former boyfriend.

Acevedo was facing multiple felony charges for an alleged assault on a girl in 2020.

In late August, a minor disclosed to her therapist that she was assaulted by Acevedo, and the case ended up in the hands of a Loveland Police Department detective.

The girl claimed that Acevedo touched her inappropriately several times, including after he pressured her into taking drugs, leading to the felony charges.

Acevedo never entered a plea to those charges, which were dismissed after his death. But in a threat he made prior to the deaths, he mentioned false allegations.

Eighth Judicial District Attorney Gordon Mclaughlin said that, prior to the shooting, his office anticipated that Acevedo was going to enter a not guilty plea during his next hearing and they were going to take the case to trial.

“We had been putting a lot of work into the case,” he said. “We were very dedicated to (it).”

Eighth Judicial District Court records also showed that Daum had tried on multiple occasions to receive a protection order against Acevedo, citing in two separate requests that she was a victim of domestic abuse.

In one request for a civil protection order for herself and several children, made in early September, Daum checked two boxes for why she was seeking the order: domestic abuse and assault.

Though the writing on the document provided to the Reporter-herald is difficult to read, it can be made out that Daum described Acevedo as a threat to her and her children. At the bottom of the sheet, she included some information of the abuse in a list, including name-calling, threatening or harassing calls, threat by cruelty to animals, shoving or pushing and abuse of children.

While a temporary civil protection order was granted, her request for a permanent protection order was ultimately denied by Magistrate Patrick Esser, records show.

Provided court records did not give specific reasons, saying only that there was not “sufficient evidence” to grant the order.

Daum filed another request in June naming just herself, once again checking domestic abuse as her reasoning for seeking the order. Among the information Daum provided, she wrote in the request that on June 9 Acevedo had called her and threatened to kill her.

In comparison to the 2021 order, Daum offered additional claims of abuse, citing ongoing threats, “throwing things” and name-calling. She also reported grabbing, shoving or pushing and abuse of children. Daum also claimed, in the document, that on June 14, Acevedo slashed her tires and scratched the word “bitch” into her car.

That word was visible etched into the paint of a van parked in the driveway of the home after the murder.

Once again, documents show, Daum was granted a temporary protection order. But just a few weeks later on June 28, Esser again ruled that there was not “sufficient evidence” to provide the order. No explanation was included in the documents sent to the Reporter-herald.

Often when abuse situations rise to lethal violence, it is about the loss of control which can come in any number of ways, said Kari Clark, executive director of Alternatives to Violence.

“Abuse is about power and control,” she said. “If (the abuser is) losing their control … that can lead to lethality situations. It is not about someone who drinks too much and just hits. Domestic violence is always about power and control.”

According to the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, in 2020 Colorado saw at least 51 incidents in which domestic violence resulted in a fatality, resulting in the deaths of 63 people; this includes both victim and perpetrator deaths. While this was a 10% decrease from 2019, the report said that 2019 and 2020 have had the most fatalities than in the last five years.

While a picture of domestic violence is coming out as the investigation continues, the Loveland Police Department had not been called to Daum’s home for a domestic violence issue, according to Assistant Chief Ray Butler. Call records show that officers were called out for drug-related incidets or harassment but not domestic violence.

The statewide domestic violence report also showed that firearms are the predominant weapon used in reviewed cases and are present in 54% of incidents. This is supported by data from the fairly new Red Flag Law which, according to the report, shows that 31% of perpetrators had threatened their intimate partner victims with firearms prior to the date of an incident and 60% had access to firearms.

Acevedo bought the gun used in the murder-suicide in 2021, police have reported. A Denver County Court judge ordered him to relinquish it earlier this year in connection with a protection order granted for a person who is unrelated to the Loveland deaths.

But he did not turn over the gun.

The fact that Acevedo maintained possession of a gun despite the court order, Clark said, is a big problem in her mind in the fight to protect victims like Daum.

“That is where I see a failure in the system that can happen,” she said.

According to Colorado Revised Statute, someone ordered to relinquish a firearm in a protection order, has one of three options: sell or transfer the firearm to a federally license firearms dealer, arrange for the storage of the firearm or ammunition or sell it to a private party who may legally possess the firearm or ammunition. The person ordered to relinquish that firearm would also have to provide the sale or transfer of the firearm to the private party in an affidavit.

Mclaughlin said he could not comment on the specifics of Acevedo’s orders from the Denver County Court, but he did say that in cases where defendants are asked to relinquish a firearms in a domestic violence situation, and the DA finds out the defendant lied about having or relinquishing firearms, they would seek action from a judge to revoke bond as there would be serious concerns for the victim’s safety.

Butler said the police department did not have any jurisdiction over Acevedo, since he did not live in Loveland. He also said that the only time law enforcement would get involved in forfeiture like this is if the person turned the weapon into police or if an extreme risk protection order were filed.

While LPD received a tip from a citizen who spoke with Acevedo just two days before the shooting and reported that he had threatened to kill his wife, at the time the LPD did not know about Daum.

The LPD, according to previously released information on that call, said that during a phone interview between a Loveland officer and Acevedo, the officer referred to Acevedo’s wife by name, just provided as Mary, and Acevedo did not correct or clarify that he was not talking about

Mary. Police also reported that the officer who interviewed Acevedo had “no knowledge of Daum upon speaking to the suspect.”

Butler reiterated what the department said in regards to that call after information was first released, that the officer “went above and beyond to track down who this guy was and was able to identify him and talk to him.” Police previously said that the threat was thoroughly investigated but there was no grounds for a criminal charge.

Beyond concerns of the weapon and call, there has been community frustration towards the denial of Daum’s multiple protection order requests.

Clark said that it is not uncommon for a protection order to be denied as it can be difficult to receive a permanent protection order. She said that it requires a significant threat with concrete evidence, adding that if someone were to get a text from a someone that was threatening with no concrete action, that would not be enough.

While the DA’S office is not involved in civil protection orders, Mclaughlin said that in handling criminal protection orders as their duty to defend Larimer and Jackson Counties in court, usually a judge is looking for a sense of imminent danger when weighing whether to issue a permanent protection order.

“The threats they usually (are looking for) are not vague or speculative or in the distant future, but that someone presents a real and present danger right here, right now,” he said.

Mclaughlin said from a legal and law enforcement standpoint, communication is incredibly important to help protect people in danger from domestic violence situations. He said that his office has a representative on call 24/7 who can speak with law enforcement officers who are concerned about a situation.

The DA can work with the law enforcement agency to brainstorm ideas for what evidence could raise a situation to criminal level status or help in more targeted cases, like that of sexual abuse, Mclaughlin said.

“We are really trying to pound the pavement on communication,” he said. “The more communication the better. If the left hand is not talking to the right hand, things can fall through the cracks.”

From a victim standpoint, experts have agreed that one of the best ways to help in early prevention, before a situation rises to lethal violence, is to check in with someone you are concerned about and watch for any red flags. Along with this, experts agreed it is important to connect victims to available resources.

Clark said organizations such as ATV need to have a strong collaborative network with the court system and law enforcement so victims can find the resources they need.

“Working with a domestic violence agency to put a safety plan together is paramount,” she said.