Colorado school shooter sentenced to life plus 1,282 years in prison

A former high school student convicted of killing a classmate and injuring eight others at a Denver-area school was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Meanwhile, Judge Theresa Slade added 1,282.5 years to Devon Erickson’s life sentence for his role in the May 7, 2019, fatal shooting of Kendrick Castillo at STEM School Highlands Ranch and the attempted murders of others, The Gazette in Colorado Springs reported.

Erickson, now 20, was convicted of partnering with another student in the attack on a classroom of high school seniors watching a movie.

A Douglas County jury convicted Erickson in June on nearly four dozen counts after a three-week trial that saw approximately 60 witnesses testify, including classmates and teachers, The Gazette reported.

According to The Colorado Sun, Lauren Harper, the teacher in the school’s Room 107 where the shooting took place, told the court prior to Erickson’s sentencing that she still has nightmares about the attack.

“There is no describing the terror I still experience to this day when I encounter a flashback, hear a sudden loud noise or even when I wake up from a nightmare,” Harper said.

The judge also stated prior to sentencing that she had received a nearly 600-page presentencing report, along with a thumb drive containing hundreds of victim impact statements, plus 10 additional statements the morning before sentencing, The Gazette reported.

Alex McKinney, Erickson’s accomplice in the STEM School shooting, pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole. McKinney was 16 at the time of the shooting, and Erickson, who turns 21 Tuesday, was 18.

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