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Man who boasted on Facebook about killing Englewood chef sentenced

A man who randomly shot and killed a father and Englewood chef in 2016 was sentenced Friday to life in prison with parole, the District Attorney's Office announced.
Raheem Benson (Photo: 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office)

A man who shot and killed an Englewood chef and then boasted on social media about the crime was sentenced in court Friday to life with the possibility of parole, the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office said.

Raheem Benson - now 18 - and another teenager shot and killed Nick Lewis back in 2016.

“I don’t think any of your deficiencies shields you or excuses the choice you made that night,” said Judge Andrew Baum during sentencing, according to a news release from the DA.

Baum was referencing mitigating factors the defense had raised in a previous hearing.

“At some point you knew it was wrong to go out there with a gun … No one else made that choice," Baum said. "Your life is now the Department of Corrections."

District Attorney George Brauchler said Benson murdered for the "mere thrill of killing another person."

"At any age, this can only be described as evil," Brauchler said.

Lewis' family traveled from Florida to make the plea that Benson was given the maximum sentence. Baum gave him life with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

Raheem Benson, 18 (Photo: 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office)

The DA said Benson was spotted on social media wearing the mask and brandishing the weapon that he used to kill Lewis sometime after the crime.

Lewis was a father and his son was just 8 at the time of his father's murder. The child's mother pleaded with the court on Friday, the DA said, telling Judge Baum the pair that was responsible for her husband's death permanently altered the course of her son's life.

On Oct. 1, 2016, 33-year-old Lewis was a chef at Blackbird Public House in Denver and walking home from a convenience store when he was reportedly targeted at random, the DA said. Englewood officers found him lying on his back on the sidewalk in the 3000 block of South Acoma Street. He'd been shot three times in the chest.

He died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

Shell casings were found in the area and witnesses told police they'd seen a vehicle leaving the area, the District Attorney's Office said.

Two days after the shooting, Westminster police recovered a stolen vehicle reported out of Denver a week before, taking teenagers Benson and Louis Lara-Macias into custody.

Later, Englewood detectives were able to tie both Benson and Lara-Macias to Lewis' death.

During Benson's sentencing, Lewis' sister, who was just 11 years old when he was killed, read a statement to the court.

“There is no excuse for the defendant to use age as a cop-out for the horrific act,” she said to Judge Baum. “He is a predator and Nick was his prey.”

Benson was convicted of first-degree and second-degree murder as well as attempted aggravated robbery on March 22, according to the DA.

Lara-Macias, the other teen involved in Lewis' death, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 21 years in the Department of Corrections which will be suspended after the completion of seven years in the department's youth offender system.

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