A 17-year-old transgender teenager who told investigators that he launched a deadly school shooting in retaliation for being bullied for his gender identity has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Alec McKinney was sentenced on Friday after passionate and emotional statements by nearly two dozen teachers, students, and family members. McKinney and fellow student Devon Erickson, 19, were charged with opening fire at STEM School Highlands Ranch in a south Denver suburb on May 7, 2019.
McKinney, who was unable to face the death penalty because he was a minor at the time of the shooting, spoke publicly for the first time since the incident, reading a statement of approximately 22 minutes in which he assumed responsibility and apologized to each of the victims. .
“I killed their innocence. I killed their ambitions. And I killed their sense of security. I not only physically killed people, I also killed people mentally. I don’t know how to describe the sadness I feel when I think of victims,” McKinney said. “The horror I caused is really too much for anyone.”
Several students were injured during the shooting. Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old who confronted the gunmen in an effort to stop them, was killed. According to an arrest affidavit, McKinney told investigators he wanted to attack students who “always made fun of him, ‘hated him’, called him by name, and said he was rude for trying to be a man.”
“I don’t deserve indulgence or forgiveness. I don’t want a lighter sentence,” McKinney continued. He also had a message for potential school shooters, urging potential copycats to get help: “The amount of pain it causes everyone who cared about you, and innocent people, surpasses everything you’re going through in this moment. Why idolize someone who hurt someone, someone so weak they couldn’t get help? “
John Castillo talked about losing his son, and as he watched a video screen called McKinney it was pure evil on his face. While the suspect sobbed openly, Castillo sentenced him to hell.
“This killer is a monster. Do you sit there with alligator tears on your face? Well written,” Castillo said, crying. “I need to tell you something: these are real tears.”
Castillo added that he would never forgive McKinney for his actions and promised “to fight him to the end.”
“You have awakened an activist fighting for safe schools,” he said.
María Castillo said her son was killed with only three days left in the school year, a few days before Mother’s Day.
“I’m still waiting for him to come home,” she sobbed. “This evil assassin destroyed my family.”
During his statement, McKinney addressed the Castles.
“I want to start with an apology, but I never expect you to forgive her. Because what I have done is unforgivable,” McKinney said.
In February, McKinney pleaded guilty to multiple charges: first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder after deliberation.
“Your honor, I support my guilty plea,” McKinney told Judge Jeffrey Holmes, who appeared on the courtroom video conference.
McKinney sobbed openly during the hearing as she listened to witnesses recall the horror of that day, describing lasting trauma that has changed their lives forever.
“The pain he has inflicted will continue for many years,” said Yuritza Ojeda-Ayala. Her son Gerardo Montoya Ojeda was shot in the head and survived, but she said she no longer feels safe in any classroom. “It lost that shine it had.”
Gabriela Leddy, a language arts teacher, shared an anguished account of that day.
“As we huddled in fear, my mind was imprinted with the faces of my students,” Leddy said through tears. “They were so brave. I am honored by their bravery.”
Leddy described the moment he started running from the building, stopping when he saw Castillo’s body on the ground, his head covered in a bright green cloth.
“That moment of anxiety and fear of what was happening around me stopped,” he said. “Something made me pause and calmly say goodbye to this man.”
Leddy said she felt betrayed that a student who was one of her favorites was capable of such evil.
“I went above and beyond to try to foster an environment where Alec could feel safe and accepted,” Leddy said. “This is a ruthless attack that spits in the face of the kindness that teachers like me and other caring adults showed him.”
Erickson pleaded not guilty. The next time he will appear in court on August 17, and his trial is likely to start in September, prosecutors said.
Investigators said that on the day of the shooting, McKinney and Erickson went to Erickson’s home and used an ax and crowbar to open a safe containing pistols and a rifle. They then returned to school with the guns hidden in a backpack and the rifle in a guitar case.
Student Nui Giasolli called McKinney, who she once considered a close friend, a coward who projected her problems onto others.
“He became a judge, a jury and an executioner,” said Giasolli. “He’s not crying because he’s really sorry. He’s crying because they caught him.”
Morgan McKinney also testified at Friday’s hearing, saying her son showed remorse and is receiving mental health treatment.
“I tried to raise my children so that they were just better people in our world,” he said. “I certainly regret this tragic tragedy and what it has caused you and many others.”
Jennifer Krause’s son Mitchell was shot and survived.
“The school shootings have to stop,” Krause said. “We can no longer mop the halls of our schools with the blood of our children.”
.
