Investigators say a 15-year-old boy stabbed and killed Makayla Grote on Saturday. Now, the district attorney wants the boy tried as an adult.
In juvenile court, the judge read 11 counts against the Lakewood teenager. One count is for first-degree murder, three counts are for attempted murder.
Prosecutors stated in court that they want him tried as an adult. The 15-year-old will undergo a transfer hearing in March to determine if that will happen.
20-year-old Makayla Grote was an up-and-coming race car driver. Her father, Troy Grote, describes his daughter with love and sadness as a young woman determined to succeed both on the track and in school.
"Makayla was a hard worker. From the time she was born, she was just a go-getter. Always," Troy Grote said. "She always had energy. She was ready to go."
He says he started bringing Makayla to the racetrack when she was a baby. And, ever since then, she wanted to become a race car driver.
"Right off the bat, she battling with these boys fourth, fifth, sixth place," Troy Grote said. "I couldn't believe it. Everybody at the track couldn't believe it."
After she fell in love with auto racing, she fell for a fellow student at Green Mountain High School, Noah Malik. They first started talking in chemistry class.
"She was one of those that never really gave up on anything, you know," Malik said.
Makayla was going to class at Aims Community College in Greeley while taking online classes from Mesa State University. Malik says she wanted to an interior designer in addition to racing cars.
"She had a really good attitude about life in general," Malik said. "She always loved to accomplish things, loved to make people happy, loved to make people smile."
Troy Grote did not want to talk about what happened in court or about the boy accused of murdering his daughter. He just wanted to focus on one thing.
"Love. It was the love. She loved everybody," Troy Grote said. "We'll just think about the love that she had. That's what's important."
