Colorado gunman sentenced to life in prison for 10 killed in supermarket

BOULDER, Colo. (CN) — A Colorado judge sentenced a man to 10 consecutive life sentences plus more than 1,300 years in prison on Monday, just after a jury declined his insanity plea and found him guilty of indiscriminately killing 10 people at a Boulder grocery store in 2021.

“When I signed up to be a judge, they never had an instruction for judges in this type of case,” said 20th Judicial District Chief Judge Ingrid Bakke. “Unfortunately, that day has come where we need to train judges on how to implement sentencing in this type of case.”

Bakke imposed on Ahmad Alissa the maximum sentence for 10 first-degree murder charges plus more than 1,300 years for the remaining 38 attempted murder charges, all to run consecutively.

“It was not lost on me that there was a shooting at a school during jury selection in this case, and it was not lost on me that there was just a shooting in Alabama,” Bakke said.

Alissa was 21 years old on March 22, 2021, when he attacked the King Soopers grocery store in the Table Mesa neighborhood of Boulder, Colorado — killing 9 shoppers and workers, as well as one police officer.

The shooter’s defense attorneys did not deny that their client purchased weapons and killed the victims, but they asked the jury to find him not guilty by reason of insanity, arguing he was unable to tell right from wrong at the time of the crime. The jury declined, delivering a unanimous guilty verdict on Monday.

“Ten lives were taken that day, and so many others almost lost their life,” said 20th Judicial District Attorney Michael Dougherty. “There is so much trauma in this case. There are so many people in this case who barely made it out alive, but when you talk to them, they don’t feel fortunate, they feel wrecked.”

Before reading the sentence, Bakke recalled details shared from each of the victims’ families.

More than 100 people were shopping at the store when the shooter arrived. The 10 murder victims, who were between 20 to 65 years old, and included three King Soopers employees, several shoppers and a police officer. Dougherty called up representatives from families in the order they were killed.

According to his sister, Neven Stanisic, 23, was the first child and “first joy” of two Bosnian immigrants, born one year after they immigrated to the U.S. She said Monday in court that he liked getting dirty fixing things and drinking coffee with ice cream in it.

“The defense kept saying there are no words. There are lots of words, starting with ‘I’m sorry,’” said Erika Mahoney, whose 61-year-old father Kevin was killed while she was pregnant with his grandchild. Mahoney described her father as being her north star and recalled how he always bought her sugary cereal when they went to the store.

Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, owned a clothing store on Pearl Street and left behind a vast family who cared for her.

Rikki Olds, 25, had a spark and a knack for making people smile, her aunt, Lori Olds, said, recalling that Rikki was the first baby she had ever seen and that she helped raise her.

“Her first word was ‘oh shit,’ and it stuck with her her whole life so it could have been her last word too,” Olds recalled in court. Despite her grief, Lori Olds said she forgave the killer.

“I find forgiveness so the laws of karma can kick in and the pain can subside,” Lori Olds explained.

The mother of Denny Stong, who was 20 years old and studying to become a pilot, said he told her he would fly her all over the world.

According to her daughter with whom she had a special connection, Lynn Murray, 62, lived without ego or judgment.

Teri Leiker, 51, had worked for King Soopers for 32 years. Her mother said she loved marching bands, traveling and marveling at the beauty of the Boulder Flat Irons.

Family of Jody Waters, 65, like to imagine she is now laughing in a field of wildflowers. A friend of Waters said Monday that she was calm, quiet and strong, and often engaged in deep, reflective conversations.

Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley, 51, left behind 7 children. His sister said Monday that he loved talking so much he always lost the silent game as a kid*.* A Boulder Police Officer recalled how shortly before the shooting, Talley received a service award for rescuing ducklings from a drainage ditch.

“I was 16 when he died," Talley’s daughter Madeline told the court. “He wasn’t there when I got my driver’s license. He wasn’t there when I turned 18. He wasn’t there to interrogate my first boyfriend like he always said he would. When I get married he won’t be there to walk me down the aisle. He won’t be there when I have kids.”

The defendant appeared in court wearing an orange striped jumpsuit. Neither the defendant nor his public defender Kathryn Herold chose to speak.

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