[ad_1]
A Denver man who used an AK-47 to kill a woman and wound a man while the couple was walking their dog near Coors Field was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole.
Michael Close was sentenced for the June 10, 2020, death of 21-year-old Isabella Thallas, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office. He was also sentenced to a 48-year prison term, consecutive to the life sentence, for wounding Darian Simon. Close was ordered to pay $37,000 in restitution.
Denver District Court Judge Lisa C. Arnolds handed down the sentences.
“Mr. Close will pay for what he’s done by spending his life in prison,” Arnolds said at the sentencing, according to a DA’s news release.
On Sept. 22, a Denver jury convicted Close of one count of first degree murder – after deliberation, and one count of first degree murder – extreme indifference; two counts of attempt to commit first degree murder; and two counts of first degree assault.
On the day of the shooting, Close first yelled out his window at the couple as they urged their dog to “go potty,” then went to another room, retrieved an AK-47 he’d taken from a friend who was a Denver police sergeant, returned to the window and began shooting.
He fired 24 times, prosecutors said. Thallas was hit in the back and died instantly; Simon was shot twice. He ran from the scene until he collapsed not far away.
Close had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
[ad_2]
Source link