Colorado state representative’s daughter arrested in Denver stabbing

ARREST

Nefretarie Lockley, 29-year-old daughter of Rep. Naquetta Ricks, is charged with attempted first-degree murder

Colorado state Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, holds a news conference on immigration two days after Inauguration Day at the Colorado State Capitol building in Denver on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. HYOUNG CHANG — THE DENVER POST

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By Shelly Bradbury

sbradbury@denverpost.com

The 29-year-old daughter of a Colorado state representative was arrested last week in connection with a stabbing in Denver.

Nefretarie Lockley, daughter of Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, was arrested Wednesday after police allege she stabbed a 21-year-old woman during a confrontation in north Denver. She is charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault, menacing and a crime-of-violence sentence enhancers, court records show.

Officers arrived at 3900 N. Elati St. at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to find a woman in critical condition who had been stabbed in the back, according to a police affidavit. The victim’s husband told officers that a Black woman wearing a blue hoodie had just attacked his wife.

Officers began investigating. They discovered a blue hoodie in a trash can nearby, according to the affidavit. As the officers went to try to pull security camera footage of the attack, they encountered Lockley. She came out of a building and asked if someone had called the police.

The officers asked Lockley if she was involved in the stabbing, and she said she was, according to the affidavit. They arrested her and found a box cutter in her sweatshirt pocket and a large kitchen knife inside a blue bag she carried. The kitchen knife “was consistent with” the wound to the victim, police said.

Lockley admitted she knew the woman who was stabbed, said she had a prior confrontation with the woman, and admitted to stabbing her, according to the police affidavit. She gave an incorrect first and last name for the victim, police noted.

The victim was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

Lockley is being held on $100,000 cash-only bail in the Denver Detention Center, county court records show.

Ricks said in a statement Monday that she will respect the court process as her daughter faces the charges.

“As a mother, I deeply love my daughter and will always support her,” Ricks said. “She has been suffering through a number of difficult challenges and has not received the treatment she needs in some time. These are very serious charges, and I trust the legal system to investigate them thoroughly and will respect the outcome of the process.”

The third-term Democratic lawmaker has been on the job since 2020. Ricks fled as a child from the civil war in Liberia with her family and resettled in Aurora. She graduated from the University of Colorado Denver and has now lived in Aurora for three decades.