ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — A 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder for the killing of a 10-year-old girl.
Aidan Zellmer was 15 when he was formally charged with four counts of murder and three counts of sexual assault after Kiaya Campbell's body was discovered in a natural area in Thornton the day after she’d been reported missing.
Zellmer pleaded guilty to the murder charge during a trial on Friday morning. All other charges were dropped.
Zellmer faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. Because the sexual assault charges were dropped, Zellmer is eligible to participate in a youth corrective program. If he's a model inmate and makes it through that program, he may be eligible for parole in 30 years, at age 46.
A sentencing hearing is set for March 11.
Campbell suffered multiple blunt force injuries to the head – some of which caused skull fractures – as well as wounds to several fingers, according to an autopsy report.
At the time Campbell was reported missing, her family told police that she and a 15-year-old boy had left a home in the 12400 block of Forest Drive in Thornton to walk to a nearby shopping center – then became separated in a rainstorm.
The report sparked a massive search in the area for the girl – a search that ended late the next afternoon when a man discovered her body in a natural area roughly a mile east of the area where she was reported to have disappeared.
The autopsy report details a horrific series of injuries – multiple open lacerations on the right side of the girl’s head, many directly connected to skull fractures.
It also described multiple injuries to her hands, including a broken finger and other contusions.
The report does not indicate what caused the wounds.
Zellmer was tried as an adult in Adams County Court and faced multiple charges:
- First-degree murder – alleging that he killed her after deliberation.
- First-degree murder – alleging that he killed a child under age 12 while in a position of trust.
- First-degree murder – alleging that he killed her in the course of a sexual assault.
- First-degree murder – alleging that he killed her in the course of committing sexual assault on a child.
- Sexual assault – alleging that he committed sexual assault on a person younger than 15 and he was more than four years older than her and forced submission through force or violence.
- Sexual assault – alleging that he committed sexual assault on a person younger than 15 and he was more than four years older than her and the victim suffered serious bodily injury.
- Sexual assault – alleging that he committed sexual assault on a person younger than 15 and he was more than four years older than her and he applied force “to accomplish or facilitate the sexual contact.”
This article draws on previous reporting from 9Wants to Know reporter Kevin Vaughan.
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