DENVER — Seventeen years after her son, Javad, was shot to death, Democratic State Sen. Rhonda Fields said she just learned that she has a new constituent: a man convicted of being an accessory to Javad's murder.
"I just discovered that he is a mile-and-a-half away from me. In fact, I found out I'm his senator," Fields said.
In June 2005, Javad Fields and his girlfriend were shot to death in Aurora. Prosecutors said Javad was targeted because he was about to testify against two men accused in a murder from the year before. Three men were later convicted of killing Javad. A fourth man, Percy Carter, was convicted of accessory to murder, as well as various drug charges, and received a lengthy prison sentence.
Rhonda Fields said she was notified by the Department of Corrections just in the past two weeks that Carter had been released from prison and from post-release supervision, which she said both surprised and frightened her.
"It's very disturbing now that I know how close of proximity he is to me," Fields said.
On Tuesday, Fields was at the Arapahoe County Courthouse, where a judge granted her request for a protective order against Carter.
"I believe it's an elevated level of threat and harm because there's nobody watching him to make sure he does the right thing," Fields said.
A spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections said Fields was not notified earlier of Carter's release from prison and from post-release supervision because she did not opt in to the department's notification system.
The spokeswoman said the statute has now been changed so that all victims are now automatically notified of a prisoner's release.
From March 2020: Polis signs death penalty repeal into law, commutes sentences of 3 men on Colorado's death row
From March 2020: Family of man killed by Colorado death row inmate responds to governor's commutation of his sentence
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Investigations & Crime