Latest news with #AmyPadden
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Teenage illegal migrant killed young woman... then walked free from jail
A 15-year-old illegal migrant who was unlicensed, uninsured, and driving his mother's Jeep at 90mph in a residential zone killing a young woman in the process, has walked free from jail with two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Kaitlyn Weaver's crumpled Volkswagen lay shattered at an Aurora, Colorado intersection after the killer driver smashed into to her car on July 8, 2024. The force of the impact crushed the driver's side. Emergency crews raced to extract 24-year-old Kaitlyn from the wreckage and she was placed on life support for two days - just long enough for her parents to donate her organs. Police charged the teen responsible with vehicular homicide with Kaitlyn's family being told by the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office that there would be no plea deal. But then progressive district attorney Amy Padden was elected, stunning the Weaver's with news that her office would offer the killer probation. Kaitlyn, a University of Colorado psychology graduate and drug rehab worker, was driving through Aurora when she stopped at a four-way intersection. While waiting at a stop sign and chatting on speakerphone with her boyfriend, she was T-boned at deadly speed by a Jeep Cherokee driven by the Colombian national, still unnamed due to juvenile privacy laws. 'It was an instantaneous death,' her father, John Weaver, told Fox News. 'She didn't even see him coming. 'She spent her life trying to help people. She was an amazing human being,' he added. 'They said by doing two years' probation, that's probably more than the judge would give if he pleaded guilty,' Weaver recalled as he discussed the light sentence. 'You don't have to participate in a bad system. If the judge wanted to sentence him to less, that's the judge's issue. But by offering this plea, now you're part of the problem.' The unlicensed and uninsured teenage driver had taken his mother's Jeep without permission and was racing other teens through residential streets. The teen promised prosecutors he would attend school and avoid future legal trouble in exchange for no jail time and has since applied for asylum in the United States. Matthew Durkin, an attorney for the Weaver family, called the plea deal 'abhorrent.' 'There's no deterrence. If he had taken a firearm and recklessly just shot it and killed someone, this would be a different case. They would be pushing it completely differently,' John Weaver said. Instead, the teen's immigration status, age, and the progressive leanings of the DA's office appear to have shielded him from real consequences. The unlicensed and uninsured teenage driver had taken his mother's Jeep without permission and was racing other teens through residential streets when he slammed into Kaitlyn's vehicle 'We had a collision where the immigration system and the criminal justice system collided, and now my daughter's dead,' John added. Colorado law protects the identities of minors in criminal court and the illegal immigrant who took Kaitlyn's life has never been publicly named nor had his mugshot released. Thanks to the Arapahoe County judge, he remains shielded from public view. Furthermore, the court allowed him to file for asylum instead of enforcing deportation proceedings. Woke, progressive District Attorney Amy Padden, who has been photographed with Kamala Harris and Georgia's Stacey Abrams, has been under fire since the plea deal became public. Critics point to her cozy ties with top Democrats and her record of pushing juvenile justice reform as a reason she went soft on a case that demanded hard accountability. In a statement, Arapahoe County Assistant DA Ryan Brackley stated: 'We unequivocally condemn such reckless and unlawful behavior, which had devastating and irreversible results... No legal outcome can truly make up for the profound loss and void Kaitlyn's loved ones will live with permanently.' Padden also addressed the case on Facebook with a lecture about speeding. 'We acknowledge Kaitlyn Weaver's death was the direct result of a crash caused by an unlicensed teenager driving at nearly twice the posted speed limit,' she wrote. 'This tragic loss is a powerful reminder that it is not just alcohol or drug impaired driving that takes lives. Driving at dangerous speeds has deadly consequences too.' Kaitlyn Weaver had dedicated her life to helping people - first at a suicide hotline, then at a drug rehabilitation center in Aurora. 'She was really trying to make a difference in their lives every day,' dad, John, said. 'Immigration and the criminal justice system and all these things landed together one day in Aurora,' he mourned. 'Now I sit here today without a daughter.'
Fox News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Progressive prosecutor lets illegal immigrant teen off easy after crash that killed 24 year-old woman
A teenage illegal immigrant who killed a 24-year-old Colorado woman during a high-speed crash was given a lenient plea deal by a progressive district attorney that allowed him to walk free without serving any jail time. The 15-year-old Colombian teen, who has not been publicly named because of state laws that shield the identity of underage criminal suspects, was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours of community service for the July 2024 death of Kaitlyn Weaver, her father, John Weaver, told Fox News Digital. The office of Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden offered the teen a plea deal if he admitted his guilt in the deadly crash. PROGRAMMING ALERT: TUNE INTO FOX AND FRIENDS FRIDAY MORNING TO SEE THE FATHER OF KAITLYN WEAVER The teen was racing his Jeep with other kids at speeds of 90 mph in a residential neighborhood in the Denver suburb of Aurora when he T-boned Weaver's vehicle at an intersection, her father said. "It was an instantaneous death," John Weaver said. Kaitlyn Weaver was waiting at a stop sign and speaking to her boyfriend on speakerphone at the time she was struck, he said. She was kept on life support for two days before she was taken off and her organs were donated. The teen suspect was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide. At the time, the Weavers were told by the DA's office the case was a "no plea offer" case, John Weaver said. However, in January, Padden, who received endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, informed the Weaver family her office would negotiate a probation plea deal. "They said by doing two years probation, that's probably more than the judge would give if he pleaded guilty," John Weaver said. "You don't have to participate in a bad system. If the judge wanted to sentence him to less, that's the judge's issue. What happened in this case is you (prosecutors) created it into your issue. Now you're part of the problem." The Weavers' attorney, Matthew Durkin, called the deal "abhorrent," noting that Weaver was killed during the prime of her life. John Weaver noted that the teen who killed his daughter was in the United States illegally and unlicensed. "We had a collision where the immigration system and the criminal justice system collided, and now my daughter's dead," he said. The teen had taken the uninsured Jeep without his mother's permission, according to local reports. His mother told authorities she planned to move him back to Colombia, but he has since applied for asylum. Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said he "unequivocally" condemns the teen's "reckless and unlawful behavior, which had devastating and irreversible results." "We believe the conviction to the highest charge in this case and the negotiated sentence acknowledges the seriousness of this preventable tragedy, and that no legal outcome can truly make up for the profound loss and void Kaitlyn's loved ones will live with permanently," Brackley said. In a Facebook post this week, Padden addressed Weaver's death while focusing on the dangers of speeding. "We acknowledge Kaitlyn Weaver's death was the direct result of a crash caused by an unlicensed teenager driving at nearly twice the posted speed limit," she wrote. "This tragic loss is a powerful reminder that it is not just alcohol or drug-impaired driving that takes lives. Driving at dangerous speeds has deadly consequences too, and they are felt by our entire community."
