Kilyn Lewis Family Wants State Action After DA Declines Charging Officer in Fatal Shooting

The family members of Kilyn Lewis, who was fatally shot by Aurora Police on May 23, say they're angry and disappointed with the decision by an Arapahoe County District Attorney to not prosecute the police officer who pulled the trigger. They're demanding that the state step in to investigate the shooting and pass laws to notify families of victims before the media. 

"I am so disappointed in this outcome," Lewis's mother, LaRonda Jones, said during a rally on Monday, October 14. "I was disappointed on how we learned the outcome. I didn't get a phone call. My son didn't get a phone call. My daughter didn't get a phone call. We had to learn from the media, and I think that's disgraceful and distasteful."


The family of Lewis, including his father, Robert, and brother, Kiawa, spoke alongside supporters from the group Justice for Kilyn outside the Aurora Municipal Center on Monday, October 14, calling out the DA's decision and how they were notified.

The Lewis family and Justice for Kilyn later spoke during the public comment period of the Aurora City Council meeting. Each speaker with Justice for Kilyn read the same statement, written by Robert Lewis.

"I am Robert Lewis, and I had to bury my son. For 144 days, I have carried the unbearable weight of these words. Every morning, they greet me like a punch to the chest," the statement read. "To learn through the media that District Attorney John Kellner had already made his determination without even notifying our family, it’s as if Kilyn’s life meant nothing."

When Robert spoke, he strayed from the script to tell Aurora City Council members that "I hope I get to be judge and jury when y'all get to heaven, because I'm going to send you straight to hell."

Justice for Kilyn is organized by Auon'tai Anderson and MiDian Shofner, who have been organizing demonstrations at council meetings on behalf of the Lewis family.

Lewis, 37, was shot during his arrest by the Aurora Police SWAT team. According to the Aurora Police Department, Lewis was wanted for the attempted murder in Denver of a 67-year-old man who had been shot multiple times on May 5. The SWAT team of six officers attempted to arrest Lewis in an apartment complex parking lot at 384 South Ironton Street, near East Alameda Avenue and South Havana Street, for the shooting.

Police surveilled Lewis for at least two days before SWAT was ordered to carry out the arrest owing to the "high-risk nature of the warrant," according to former APD chief Heather Morris, who left her position in August.

The six APD officers surrounded Lewis in undercover police cars, came out pointing assault rifles and commanded him to get on the ground several times. Lewis put his right hand behind his back and then took out his cell phone; Dieck said he mistook it to be a handgun and shot Lewis in the stomach.

Lewis died two days later from "significant brain damage because of blood loss," according to a report by the18th Judicial District. Kellner wrote in his explanation that the circumstances and Lewis's actions justified Dieck's actions.


Kellner noted that Lewis was a known gang member "with a history of unlawful weapons possession and use," and that APD was on alert because the gun used in the attempted murder related to Lewis's arrest had not been recovered. The DA also noted toxicology results that found cocaine and fentanyl in Lewis's blood. 

"We always expected this outcome," Anderson tells Westword. "We were always preparing for John Kellner to dismiss this case and to not charge officer Dieck. This is not a surprise. It's heartbreaking, it's disappointing, but we expected it, because we expect nothing better from the City of Aurora. We expect nothing better from DA John Kellner." 
But Lewis's family was surprised that Kellner or his office did not give them any advanced notice of the decision. According to Anderson, they found out about his decision not to prosecute through the media. Anderson says that families of victims of police violence should be notified before the public.

"We learned from Westword that this is a public document, and that is unacceptable," Anderson says. "While we are grateful for Westword telling us, it's unacceptable for the DA's standards."

The family is worried about the report and about city leaders portraying Kilyn as a criminal who "deserved to die," Anderson says. 

"Aurora City Council and the rest of the public, based on the perception in this report, they see Kilyn as a person that should have been stopped because of his previous engagement in gangs," Anderson says. "And they utilized toxicology reports to paint this individual as an active drug users that should be off the streets of Aurora. That's disgusting."   

Lewis's family is "searching all legal options with their legal team," Anderson says. With Kellner leaving his seat at the end of the year after not seeking reelection, they're "hopeful" that either candidate to replace him, Republican Carol Chambers or Democrat Amy Padden, will "give this case a second chance" and decide to prosecute.

If that fails, Anderson and the Lewis family hope the state will step in, as it did when Governor Jared Polis assigned State Attorney General Phil Weiser as a special prosecutor after the death Elijah McClain case in 2020. With the McClain case, the Adams County District Attorney similarly declined to prosecute the officers and paramedics involved in the death of the 23-year-old.

"We're hoping Governor Polis did what he did for Elijah McClain and says, 'Something isn't right here,'" Anderson says. "Elijah McClain didn't have justice at first, either. It had to take a special investigation from the State of Colorado to bring charges against officers."

Anderson, the Lewis family and a couple dozen supporters have been showing up to Aurora City Council meetings since May, calling out city leaders and protesting actions like the appointment of Chamberlain as APD chief in early September.

At a handful of council meetings, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and other councilmembers have walked out of the room after protesters began chanting so loud that the council has been unable to finish its meeting.

On September 23, the city council voted to change the rules for public comment periods, banning the option to speak remotely and requiring that people who want to speak sign up between 5 and 6:20 p.m. Previous rules allowed people to sign up to speak three days before a meeting, and the September 23 meeting had been held virtually due to repeated disruptions.

"These individuals are elected, and they can't run from the public," Anderson says. "We do believe this is directed at us."

Coffman threatened at the beginning of the meeting on Monday that if disruptions broke out like they have in the past, the rest of the meeting would be held virtually.

According to Anderson, the family has had support from Aurora councilmembers Crystal Murillo, Alison Coombs and Ruben Medina, but not from the other seven of the city's ten council members, or from Coffman. In 2025, half of the city council, including Murillo and Medina, will be up for re-election, and Anderson wants to make sure the response to Lewis's death is on the minds of voters. 

"Their day is coming. While we're finishing up the election cycle of 2024, the election cycle of 2025 starts, and most of them are running for reelection," he says. "We're coming for their seats. We're coming for Danielle Jurinsky's seat. We're coming coming for Steve Sundberg and Dustin Zvonek's seats. We're going to do whatever we can to help elect a new council majority in Aurora because of their response to the Kilyn situation."