DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. —
One of the two students accused in the deadly May 7 shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch is in court Tuesday morning for a preliminary hearing.
The attorneys representing 19-year-old Devon Erickson have requested three days for the procedure, during which the prosecution will outline to the judge why it believes there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to a jury trial. In an email, 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Vikki Migoya said the prosecution is planning to call at least one witness.
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Erickson and his co-defendant, 16-year-old Alec McKinney, are each charged with 46 separate counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, 31 counts of attempted first-degree murder, and charges including arson, burglary, theft, weapons possession, criminal mischief, interference with a school and reckless endangerment.
One student, Kendrick Castillo, died after he and classmates rushed one of the two gunmen inside the K-12 school located at 8773 S. Ridgeline Blvd. Witnesses and law enforcement have credited Castillo for saving the lives of his classmates.
Eight others were also shot. One of those students was wounded after she was accidentally hit by a private security officer’s bullet, according to the arrest affidavit in the case.
That same affidavit portrays the attack as being carried out with little planning.
According to the affidavit, the younger suspect was “super suicidal” and wanted to get revenge on a lot of people. The older suspect tried to talk him out of it, according to the document, and repeatedly told investigators that he wanted to stop the shooting “but couldn’t articulate how or why he never told an adult.”
The morning of May 7, the two went to the older suspect’s home, investigators wrote in the document. There, according to the affidavit, the two “hung out in the basement” and used cocaine, then broke into a locked gun safe with an ax and a pry bar. They took four weapons – three handguns and a rifle – as well as ammunition and headed to the school, according to the affidavit.
After returning to the school, they smuggled in guns inside a guitar case, according to the affidavit, entering a door where they knew they would not be checked.
They went to a classroom and eventually pulled out the guns, yelling “nobody move,” according to the affidavit, then opened fire.
RELATED: 1 student killed, 8 others injured when classmates open fire at STEM School Highlands Ranch
One suspect was tackled by students – including Castillo – and the other was confronted by the security officer who is now under investigation and has been taken into custody.
District Attorney George Brauchler has previously said there are 8,000 pages of discovery in this case. Other evidence includes dash and body camera footage.
The preliminary hearing had originally been slated for August, but Erickson’s attorneys asked for it to be pushed back, arguing they needed more time to prepare due to the large number of videos they needed to comb through.
This story draws on reporting from 9NEWS Investigative Reporter Kevin Vaughan.
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