Teen participant in melee that led to death of 14-year-old sentenced to 2 years probation
16-year-old pleads guilty to first-degree assault for striking another teen multiple times with a baseball bat during same fight in which Jackson Davis was murdered
John LaConte/Vail Daily
A year after a melee among teens at a park in Gypsum led to the murder of 14-year-old Jackson Davis, one of the youths involved has been sentenced to 24 months of supervised probation.
The assailant, 16, was sentenced on Wednesday by Judge Rachel Olguin-Fresquez after pleading guilty to first-degree assault resulting in serious bodily injury by use of a deadly weapon, a class-3 felony. The charges stemmed from the assailant striking another teen multiple times with a baseball bat during the melee, which led to the victim being hospitalized.
Davis, then a freshman at Eagle Valley High School, was also stabbed during the melee and wound up dying from his injuries. Nefi Ezequiel Armijo Hernandez, who was 16 at the time, is facing first-degree murder and other charges in the case. Set to be tried as an adult, Armijo Hernandez will receive a reverse transfer hearing in July to determine if the case goes back to juvenile court.
Wednesday’s sentencing hearing was the first time the court had a chance to hear publicly from the families of the victims in the case, and was also the first time the full details of the altercation, including how it started, were heard in public.
How it all started
According to statements made by the victims’ family and the assailant’s attorney, the fight started over one local youth’s failure to return a ski mask to one of his peers. The way it began was so senseless, Olguin-Fresquez said, that it defies understanding.
“It is hard for any of us as adults to fully comprehend, but certainly all of us who have raised children or had a chance to be around children — particularly teenagers and young teenagers — know that rational thought and good decision-making is something that is hard for young people sometimes,” she said.
In addition to Davis, the other victim in the case was hit numerous times with a baseball bat and hospitalized, according to statements made in court Wednesday. The assailant at Wednesday’s sentencing was charged with hitting that individual with the bat and was not the person who stabbed Davis, the court was informed. The court heard from that victim’s mother, along with Davis’ mother and grandmother, all of whom gave statements indicating that they would like to see justice served in the case.
The victim’s mother said that in addition to her son, who was injured, her other son, who witnessed the incident, is also a victim because he saw his brother being beaten with a baseball bat and was unable to help.
“My other son has PTSD,” she said, addressing the assailant. “My kids don’t want to go to the park without a parent. They can’t be kids, and it’s not fair because they’re scared, they’re terrified, for having to witness something over a stupid ski mask that you had no business having in the first place, and all you had to do was give it back.”
The victim’s mother added that her son is still feeling the pain from being hit with the baseball bat, but she believes he will recover eventually.
“He will be OK, and we will get past this, once we get justice,” she said.
‘These are wounds that can not be healed’
Christy Davis, the mother of Jackson Davis, said her son was nothing more than an innocent bystander in the case.
“Jackson was not involved in the conflict that led to his death,” she said. “He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time at the hands of individuals who had no regard for life.”
Christy Davis said she has been haunted by nightmares in the aftermath of the incident.
“Nightmares of that day, of seeing my son one final time in the hospital, clinging to his life,” she said. “As his heart hemorrhaged, they could not keep him stable. That image will haunt me forever. These are wounds that can not be healed.”
Jackson Davis’ grandmother, Robin Davis, said she is disappointed that there were other individuals involved who have not been charged.
“This, to us, and many others in our community, feels like a miscarriage of justice,” she said. “Our family is left not only mourning the loss of Jackson, but also questioning the accountability of those involved, and the system meant to protect us.”
DA vents frustrations over juvenile system
District Attorney Heidi McCollum was the prosecuting attorney in the case and expressed frustration with the juvenile justice system in Colorado, saying it places more concern on the interests of youth offenders than protection of victims.
“In court appearance after court appearance, the juvenile is asked, ‘How are you doing? Is everything going OK? How is school?'” McCollum said. “No one has bothered to ask the victims this, and this is, at sentencing, the only time that the victims actually get to speak to this court.”
Olguin-Fresquez said McCollum is correct in saying that the system struggles to deal well with victims of crime.
“The focus is almost always on the person who committed the crime in the juvenile system,” Olguin-Fresquez said. “It is very much focused on the best interests of the juvenile and how we can create a sentence situation that leads them to a law-abiding and successful life forward.”
The decision to sentence the assailant Wednesday to 24 months supervised probation was a result of a plea deal that was agreed to by McCollum and the teen’s attorney, Ed O’Connor.
“In this matter, what the court believes is appropriate is to follow the agreement,” Olguin-Fresquez said.
The assailant’s 24-month probation sentence included 45 days of detention, but after already having served 67 days in detention awaiting sentencing, no further time served is required. The assailant was placed on GPS monitoring after serving the 67 days, but Olguin-Fresquez allowed that monitoring device to be removed following Wednesday’s sentence, saying he earned that privilege, but it can be revoked at any time.
McCollum said the assailant has already violated the terms of his pre-adjudication agreement by failing to attend numerous sessions with a therapist and violating a protection order, but O’Connor contended that the missed sessions were the result of a misunderstanding over where the sessions were supposed to be taking place, and the violation of the protection order was carried out without his client realizing he had done so.
The assailant lives with his father in Eagle County and must remain living with his father throughout his probation sentence, and he can not leave Eagle County without approval of his probation officer, Olguin-Fresquez said.
The assailant arrived in the United States with his father from Honduras at age 10, O’Connor told the court.
“They have been here for the last six years, living in the community, not causing problems,” O’Connor said. “They left behind his mother and two younger siblings, and their main goal was to bring the whole family back together.”
O’Connor said he has met with his client and his father numerous times over the last year and now knows them well.
“I can tell you (he) is now a frightened 16-year-old,” O’Connor said. “He does not know what his future holds. He feels the shame of everything that happened. He does take responsibility for what happened that day, and it has really traumatized him.”
The assailant did not give a statement in court on Wednesday.
In addition to the 24-month probation sentence, Olguin-Fresquez also ordered the assailant to engage with a therapist.
“I don’t know the specific type of therapy, but obviously one dealing in trauma would be very appropriate,” Olguin-Fresquez said. “Trauma based on the incident here, but also any underlying traumas.”
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