Man gets life in prison for killing his cousin

A Longmont man convicted of murder for shooting and killing his cousin was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday.

Collin Sonny Kalel Marler, 21, was found guilty Friday of firstdegree murder after deliberation and felony menacing for killing Troy Skinner, 21.

First- degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and Boulder District Judge Nancy Salomone made it official Tuesday by imposing the sentence.

She also gave Marler three years on the menacing count, which names Skinner’s mother as the victim. Those three years will be served concurrently with his life sentence.

Salomone acknowledged that Tuesday’s sentencing hearing was an emotional one, as most of the people in the courtroom were related to Marler and Skinner.

“I only have one sentence that is before the court to impose. And I recognize that imposing this sentence gives the family closure on legal proceedings but in no way will give you closure on the things you are experiencing as a family,” Salomone said. “I understand that nothing that happens in this court makes any of your individual or collective healing easier. There are limits to what the judicial process can do.”

Dixie Marler, who is Collin Marler and Skinner’s grandmother, illustrated the conflicting emotions in her statements Tuesday.

“I don’t understand what happened, but I want ( Marler) to know that the last words Troy said were, ‘ Why me?’ ” she said. “That doesn’t change the fact that Collin is my grandson, and I love him.”

Boulder Deputy District Attorney Breck Roesch said life in prison was “the only just sentence in a case like this.”

“This was for Troy,” Roesch said. “Troy Skinner was a son, a grandson, a cousin and a 21-yearold with a life ahead of him. To say that this was deliberate, calculated and cold-blooded I think falls short.

“At the end of the day, nobody wins in a case like this.”

Collin Marler did not make any statements to the court during the hearing.

His defense attorneys filed a motion late Monday night asking that a life sentence not be imposed, challenging the constitutionality of such a sentence on the grounds that Marler was a protected class because he was a young adult whose brain was still developing.

“This is an individual who at one point of distress in his life committed a horrendous act,” defense attorney Nicole Collins said. “He is also young enough that he is able to be rehabilitated.”

But Roesch said asking for a life sentence not to be imposed by challenging the constitutionality of Colorado’s law was putting “the cart before the horse.”

Salomone also declined to address the issue, saying that she had not even had a chance to review the motion before the hearing. She also noted defense attorneys did not raise the issue when they originally asked for a delayed sentencing Friday.

“The court is not in a position to rule on this motion today,” Salomone said. “This is not the way it needed to occur.”

Marler will remain in custody at the Boulder County jail while he awaits a transfer to the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Longmont police said Marler shot Skinner on March 27, 2022, at a townhouse in the 1400 block of Red Mountain Drive. Witnesses said Marler had been staying with Skinner’s family and that the two had been arguing throughout the day.

The suspected murder weapon, a .22-caliber Ar-style rifle, was recovered at the scene.

Marler was located and found with a magazine for a .22 caliber Ar-style rifle.