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Denver judge sentences man for shooting DPS student who was in car with mom

The boy was riding in a car with his mother when he was shot in the arm last August.

DENVER — The man who shot and wounded a Denver Public Schools student last August was sentenced Wednesday to more than a decade in the Department of Corrections (DOC).

Katrelle James pleaded guilty in May to first-degree assault and all other charges were dismissed. On Wednesday a Denver District Court Judge sentenced him to 15 years in the DOC, however he was given credit for the 317 days he's already been in custody.

According to an arrest affidavit from the Denver Police Department, an officer was flagged down around 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 22 near East 14th Avenue and North Downing Street.

The officer learned about the shooting, which happened just after the then 13-year-old boy's mother picked him up from his first day of school.

The boy who was sitting in the front passenger seat of his mother's vehicle had a gunshot wound to his right arm.

Credit: DPD
Katrelle James

His mother reported that the man, later identified as James, was yelling and screaming at other vehicles, and she slammed on her brakes to stop as he walked out into traffic, the affidavit says.

She said after James walked past the front of her vehicle, she continued to drive away eastbound on E. 14th Ave. As she did, she heard several gunshots from behind her vehicle and then heard screaming.

Officers later found nine shell casings and one live cartridge in the 1000-block of E. 14th Avenue. Three suspected bullet impacts were found on the rear of her vehicle.

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