DENVER — The family of a 31-year-old murdered on Interstate 70 as he drove home from work agreed to the plea deal struck in the case, but worry a judge will hand down a lenient sentence for the shooter.
Kevin Piaskowski, 31, was shot and killed on his way home from work in July 2022. Dash camera video shows the driver of a silver pickup truck weaving in and out of traffic, before shooting toward Piaskowski's Subaru and then crashing into a semi.
Police said a 17-year-old, Jameel James, was driving the truck and shot Piaskowski. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to second degree murder and could face up to 25 years in prison.
"We kind of felt like we were gambling," Piaskowski's fiancée Tamra Holton said of the plea deal they agreed to. "Had we not done a plea there was a risk he would've been sentenced as a juvenile."
She and Kevin's mother, Aldona, wish the shooter would spend the rest of his life behind bars. But they know that isn't possible under state law. "I don’t wish anybody to find out the way I am finding out how the system works," Aldona Piaskowski said.
She said she can't understand how a 17-year-old could do this to her son. "When you are 17 you should know what it means when you carry a gun and pull a gun. This is not a game," she said.
No jail sentence will heal a mother's broken heart. "My child is gone and there's no justice to bring him back," she said.
But the family is holding on to memories of Kevin -- Holton keeps a box of photos and the letters he sent her. She wears the diamond from their engagement ring on a necklace. "It was too hard to wear on my finger," she said.
But the memories she treasures don't feel the same as they did before. "It's hard to remember Kevin in all the happy times when the way he was taken is so dark," Holton said.
James is due in court for sentencing in January. Piaskowski's family hopes the end of the court case will mark the beginning of their healing process.
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