Tomas Beauford might have survived a seizure had Mesa County jailers not taken away his bracelet

1-28-17 Colorado:

A bracelet might have kept Tomas Anderson Beauford alive.

Despite mental and behavioral illnesses that meant the 24-year-old functioned more like a 6-year-old, Beauford had mastered the use of the magnetic bracelet that combatted his epilepsy.

But on April 16, 2014, Beauford didn’t have his bracelet. It had been confiscated by deputies at the Mesa County Jail.

Taking his prescribed medications also might have kept Beauford alive. But in jail without family and caretakers who often cajoled him with promises of Starbursts and Sprite, Beauford hadn’t taken his meds regularly in six weeks when he died.

In the hours before his death, Beauford’s jailers saw him suffering what they would later realize were several violent seizures in his cell. Attorneys representing Beauford’s mother wrote that if deputies had reacted correctly, he might never have died.

“Alone in his cell, Mr. Beauford ultimately had a series of seizures, fell off his bed and died with his head jammed underneath his desk,” the attorneys wrote in a civil lawsuit naming Mesa County and the jail health care providers as defendants last spring. “Mr. Beauford’s demise could have undoubtedly been prevented had defendants provided him with prompt and appropriate medical attention and treatment.”

Suspect shot dead by DPD tried to take officer's vehicle, gun before shooting

9-1-2016 Colorado:

DENVER -- The man shot dead by Denver Police officers Wednesday had several outstanding warrants and was on supervised probation for being a sex offender.

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner identified Michael Ferguson, 20, as the suspect killed Wednesday after he tried to get into a stolen vehicle, then an officer’s vehicle. At some point soon after, he struggled for one of the officer’s weapons and police opened fire.

Ferguson died when police shot him in the 2600 block of West Bates around noon Wednesday.

Three DPD officers involved in the struggle were also injured but were not shot.

Ferguson had active warrants stemming from a car theft case from May 2015 and a careless driving charge from June of this year. He failed to appear in court Monday on the latest case and was also wanted for violating his probation in the theft case.

Damien Ramirez, Sex Offender, ID'd as Carjacker Gunned Down After Wild Chase

6-11-15 Colorado:

As we've reported, there have been plenty of police shootings in Colorado of late.

Indeed, there was one at 3:20 p.m. yesterday on the 111000 block of Huron Street, when an officer with the Northglenn Police Department shot a man who allegedly had opened fire on cops responding to a report of a "male party with a gun," according to the NPD. The suspect was hospitalized but survived, and no police officers were injured.

But while some of these incidents, including the January death of seventeen-year-old Jessie Hernandez, have been controversial, the gun-down of Damien Ramirez is unlikely to follow suit.

That's because Ramirez is a sex offender who was slain after he carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint, led law enforcement on a wild highway chase and was shooting back at officers when he was killed.

Police ID man shot by officers outside Stapleton Walmart as John Clark, child sex assault suspect

3-20-15 Colorado:

DENVER - Denver Police say the man shot by officers in the parking lot of a Walmart store at Stapleton Friday morning is a sex offender, who failed to appear for his sentencing.

John Thomas Clark, 42, was arrested March 13, 2013 and charged with two counts of Sexual Assault on a Child by a Person in a Position of Trust. One of the counts related to a pattern of assault. He was also charged with Aggravated Incest, three counts of being a Habitual Criminal, Sexual Exploitation of a Child and Child Abuse/Neglect.

Court documents allege that the offenses occurred between May 1, 2005 and September 1, 2010.

In February of 2014, Thomas pleaded not guilty to the Sex Assault Charges. In January of 2015, he pleaded guilty to the Sexual Exploitation and Child Abuse charges.

His sentencing was scheduled for March 13, but he failed to show.

Police say Clark struggled with police and was shot just before 11 a.m. in a parking lot near 7800 Smith Road.

Woman Who Allegedly Beats Man To Death With Baseball Bat Is Charged

9-27-2013 Colorado:

A family is grappling with grief and confusion after a 42-year-old man was beaten to death with a baseball bat.

"My husband is the most loveable, caring person I know," Denzel Rainey's widow told sister station KCNC.

The woman arrested for the attack, however, allegedly told authorities she beat Rainey because she believed he sexually assaulted a child. She was formally charged Friday.

According to the arrest affidavit, 30-year-old Forsythia Owen told police she grabbed a bat and hunted Rainey down after a child said he had sexually abused her.

Rainey was found Sunday in an alley in the Denver suburb of Englewood. Owen allegedly told police she went to that alley because he slept there, and according to the affidavit detailed her attack on him by swinging her hands "back and forth...demonstrated how she struck Rainey over and over again."

Rainey suffered multiple injuries: skull fracture, six broken ribs, broken left hand and two broken arms.

Lisa Rainey told KCNC that her husband had been homeless due to struggles with alcohol.

“I just don’t know why, what caused her to do this on Denzel, and if Denzel did anything to provoke it,” Lisa Rainey said. “I need to know the answers for closure for me and closure for my kids.”

Neighbors told KCNC Rainey kept to himself and "never bothered anyone." One woman KCNC spoke with alleged that Owens was the troubled one.

“From my understanding of looking at her, you could tell she was on something,” Veronica Evans said. “That’s why my little sister and I would stay away from her.”

Englewood woman accused of using baseball bat in murder of man she suspected of molesting a child

9-24-2013 Colorado:

An Englewood woman is accused of using a baseball bat to kill a man who she suspected of sexually assaulting a child.

Court records show that Forsythia Eliese Owen, 30, is accused of committing the murder on September 22.

Englewood police identified the murder victim as Denzle Rainey, 42. Officers found him in an alley between the 3600 block of S. Sherman and S. Grant Streets at 1:11 a.m. Sunday.

According to an affidavit obtained by 7NEWS, Owen confessed to officers in the Englewood Police Department's recorded interview room. She told the officers that the child, whose name is redacted from the document, said Rainey "had touched and sexually abused her."

The officers asked if Owen was responsible for Rainey's death.

"Owen stood up and said she killed him," the affidavit says. "Owen swung her hands back and forth and demonstrated how she struck Rainey over and over again because of what he did to [name redacted]."

Rainey suffered lacerations to his head and a skull fracture. Both arms, six ribs and his left hand were broken. His liver was also lacerated.