The teenager, whose name is redacted because he is a minor, was driving 95 mph in a 45 miles-per-hour zone when he T-boned a car driven Kaitlyn Weaver, 24, killing her instantly in 2023.
In an interview with AFN, Weaver family attorney Matthew Durkin says Weaver was in the “prime of her life” when her life was taken from her.
Even worse than her tragic death for the family, he further says, is the shock when the teen was offered a plea deal – two years of probation, 100 hours of community service – from Amy Padden, the new district attorney for Arapahoe County.
“Although rehabilitation is a focus, it's not the only focus,” Durkin argues. “They're still deterrence, and to provide no punishment for killing someone doesn't add to deterrence.”
According to a related CBS News story, Weaver’s family says the prior D.A. promised to pursue the maximum penalty for vehicular homicide, two years in a youth correctional facility, with no plea deal.
That promise was apparently ignored by a new county prosecutor, Padden.
Padden, an experienced prosecutor, handily won an election for the 18th Judicial District last November after the current D.A. did not seek re-election.
The plea deal from Padden is not really a surprise once you know she is another far-left district attorney, says AFR radio host Jenna Ellis, who is herself a former Colorado attorney.
“This prosecutor is definitely progressive and obviously a Democrat,” says Ellis, who was born and raised in Colorado, and has watched her state move from a right-leaning state to liberal.
During the campaign, Padden’s campaign website openly stated she supports “restorative justice” for children and teens. She also said she opposed the “pervasive practice” in the 18th District of charging children as adults.
Arapahoe County, which includes cities Aurora, Littleton, and Centennial, chose Kamala Harris over Donald Trump 58%-38% last fall.
Ellis also says the teenager’s status as an illegal immigrant is another factor that garnered sympathy from the district attorney.
“It's highly possible, and in my view probable,” Ellis tells AFN, “that the lower nature of the plea agreement was to specifically contemplate a lack of collateral immigration consequences.”
