ADAMS COUNTY

Man sentenced for abandoning baby on median on Christmas Day

A man was sentenced Monday for child abuse after abandoning a baby on a median in Adams County on Christmas morning.

Jarvis Sims, 42, pleaded guilty to child abuse and received a one-year deferred sentence. Charges of reckless endangerment and violation of a protection order were dismissed in the plea.

Sims and Christina Thurman, 33, were charged with child abuse and reckless endangerment in December after a woman saw Sims leave a baby in a car seat on a median in the 7400 block of Pecos Street, according to a sheriff’s arrest affidavit.

Sims and Thurman were seen arguing before Sims left the baby on the median. Sims and Thurman walked away from the baby.

The baby was taken to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Broomfield and tested positive for cocaine.

aurora

Man sentenced to 12 years in fatal shooting at Church’s Chicken

A man was sentenced to 12 years in prison March 21 in a fatal shooting at a Church’s Texas Chicken restaurant in Aurora in June.

Jontaye Acoray Tassian, 25, pleaded guilty to child abuse and first-degree assault causing serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon.

Tassian was arrested for second-degree murder in June, but the charge was dismissed in the plea deal. A charge of tampering with physical evidence also was dropped.

Tassian shot a man he reportedly didn’t know during an altercation at Church’s Texas Chicken, at 11900 E. Colfax Ave., according to Aurora police. Tassian fled the scene with a woman. The victim’s 7-year-old daughter was present during the shooting, according to the Arapahoe County district attorney’s office.

The victim was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

— Graeme Taskerud, The Denver Post

AURORA

Brief lockdown after student takes gun to Arrowhead Elementary

A 39-year-old woman is facing charges of child abuse after a student took a gun to Arrowhead Elementary School on Friday morning, causing a brief lockdown after the student started showing it to friends.

Officers responded about 8:26 a.m. after another student spotted the gun and notified a teacher, who secured the weapon and the child’s backpack, police spokesperson Joe Moylan wrote in an email.

“There was not a live round in the chamber, but the firearm was loaded,” Moylan wrote. “There is no indication at this time the student had any intention of causing any harm” to students or faculty members.

Police said the lockdown lasted just a few minutes, and no charges are expected for the student. The student’s mother was given a court summons for charges of child abuse and failing to safely secure a firearm, both misdemeanors.

aurora

Police detain woman after fatal shooting

A man was fatally shot, and a woman was detained Friday morning after a suspected domestic violence incident in west Aurora, according to police.

Officers responded to the shooting in the 10700 block of East Exposition Avenue about 9:15 a.m., police said. They found a 41-year-old Aurora man who was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound and died after he was taken to a hospital.

A 37-year-old Aurora woman, whose identity police did not release, was treated at a hospital for minor injuries and was detained for questioning. Police wrote that there were no outstanding suspects, and no arrests had been made as of Friday.

The man will be identified by the Arapahoe County coroner’s office.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.

— Max Levy, The Denver Post