ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — In a socially-distant courtroom filled with masked attorneys and a small group of masked spectators, 15 jurors heard two conflicting arguments for what happened the night that Adams County Deputy Heath Gumm was killed.
Dreion Dearing, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in Gumm’s death, which happened the night of Jan. 24, 2018. Dearing was initially scheduled to stand trial earlier this year, but a judge declared a mistrial in part due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the proceeding was subsequently rescheduled.
During Monday’s opening statements, prosecutors argued that Dearing intentionally fired seven shots at Gumm while he was running away from a crime scene.
“Police, stop running, don’t be stupid,” 17th Judicial Attorney Dave Young said. “Those were the last words of Deputy Gumm.”
Dearing’s public defenders alleged that Gumm shot first, and that Dearing returned fire in self-defense, fearing for his life.
“Self-defense law doesn’t require a villain,” Attorney Joe Archambault said. “You can defend yourself against someone trying to hurt you whether they’re Hannibal Lector or Mother Teresa.
“What the physical evidence and witnesses show is that Deputy Gumm fired first, he fired at his back, and Mr. Dearing fired back out of self-defense, to save his life.”
Young asked the jury to reject this argument.
“This is not a case of self defense,” Young said. “This is a case of Mr. Dearing lying in wait, hiding and making a choice to point his 45-caliber handgun at Deputy Gumm and pull that trigger seven times.”
The shooting happened in a neighborhood southeast of Washington Street and East 88th Avenue. Young said it began with a burglary call just before 6:58 p.m. and culminated when Gumm was shot just after 7:10 p.m.
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Prosecutors said that Gumm had been in the area with three relatives during the incident that prompted the burglary call. Court documents previously obtained by 9Wants to Know show that Dearing was in the area confronting a teacher who had allegedly sexually assaulted his cousin, and that when police arrived, he ran away from the scene.
During his opening statements, Young said Gumm and another deputy were following Dearing when they saw him remove something from his waistband. Dearing’s defense team conceded that he had a gun, but what happened next is a point of contention between the two teams.
Prosecutors said that Dearing climbed onto a deck and fired at Gumm, who shot back after he fell to the ground with a gunshot wound to his chest. Dearing’s defense said that the deputy shot first, and that the then-22-year-old haphazardly fired back, impaired by the alcohol and marijuana he had consumed earlier in the day.
Next, Young said Dearing ran across the street and unloaded his gun near a van. That weapon – which prosecutors said was linked to the bullets that killed Gumm – had Dearing’s blood and fingerprints on it.
Police followed Dearing’s footprints through surrounding yards, picking up his lost hat along the way, before they traced him to a treehouse just 150 feet from where Gumm was shot, Young said.
Archambault said what happened next indicated the Adams County Sheriff’s Office was not able to treat Dearing objectively during an investigation that involved the death of one of their own.
“Officers called him a ‘sad sack of [expletive], they had their guns drawn on him,” he said. “Deputies said ‘give me a [expletive] excuse.”
Officers ultimately used a K9 to force Dearing to surrender.
He is now charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary, possession of a weapon by a previous offender and one count of third-degree assault. Dearing initially faced the death penalty, but prosecutors opted not to advocate for the state’s highest punishment after the legislature voted to abolish it earlier this year.
Now, if he’s convicted of first-degree murder, Dearing faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. His trial is on the docket until November, and attorneys have indicated they intend to call dozens of witnesses.
Gumm, who graduated from police academy in 2011 and worked in Cripple Creek before coming to Adams County, was posthumously promoted to detective. His wife and parents were in the courtroom along with his sister, who was the prosecution’s first witness.
“Heath was the greatest person you could ever hope to know,” Lorelei Gumm-Martinez said. “He was just funny, smart, loyal.”
“… it’s hard to use words to explain the impact he had not only on our family, but anyone who knew him.”
One of the people who crossed paths with Gumm was his fellow Adams County Deputy William Booker. Booker was with Gumm as he ran after Dearing in the moments before he was killed, and spent hours on the witness stand Monday afternoon.
Booker offered a detailed look at where he, Gumm and Dearing were in the moments before shots were fired. He testified that Dearing shot first, and that he rendered aired to Gumm shortly after he was shot.
Booker said he also tried to fire back at Dearing, but that his weapon malfunctioned.
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