A Centennial man accused of shooting his wife and two neighbors was advised of the charges against him in court Friday.
The judge told the suspected gunman, Kevin Lyons, that he's facing 14 counts.
The judge explained two counts are related to crimes of violence and the other 12 are substantive counts. While, the details weren't read in court because Lyons waived the reading, court documents obtained by Denver7 indicate that Lyons was charged with:
- First Degree Murder after Deliberation
- Attempted Murder 1 – after Deliberation
- Attempted Murder 1 – Extreme Indifference
- Attempted Murder 1 – after Deliberation
- Attempted Murder 1 – Extreme Indifference
- Attempted Murder 1 – after Deliberation
- Attempted Murder 1 of Peace Officer after Deliberation
- Attempted Murder 1 of Peace Officer w/Extreme Indifference
- Attempted Murder 1 of Peace Officer after Deliberation
- Attempted Murder 1 of Peace Officer w/Extreme Indifference
- First Degree Assault – Extreme Indifference
- First Degree Assault – Extreme Indifference
- Violent Crime – Used Weapon
- Violent Crime – Causing Death/Serious Bodily Injury
In court Friday, the judge ordered Lyons to give a DNA sample that will be entered in the crime computer, as required by law.
He advised the defendant that if the charges are dismissed, or if he is acquitted, he can request that the DNA be expunged from the state’s database.
The judge also set the next hearing for Wednesday, April 13.
Lyons is accused of shooting his wife and two neighbors Monday on East Long Circle South. One of the neighbors, Dr. Kenneth Atkinson, was killed. Lyons' wife and second neighbor suffered non-life threatening injuries. Lyons was arrested minutes after the shooting.
The next day in court, Lyons was belligerent and repeatedly interrupted Judge Carlos Samour, according to Denver7 Reporter Nicole Brady.
Brady reported that Lyons told his public defender "You're not my representative bro, I don't even know you."
He did the same thing during today’s court hearing, although he was more subdued. Twice he told the Public Defender, “You are not my attorney.”
When asked what that was about, 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler said Friday, “I couldn’t possibly guess or opine what is motivating that, but that’s an issue for the court to take up and I am absolutely positive, with this judge, that it will be fairly addressed.
When asked if he might consider seeking the death penalty in this case, Brauchler replied, “With any murder case we get, we have a process that we will evaluate to determine if there are any statutory aggravators that exist."
“But that’s not the end of the analysis for us,” he said. “We try to weigh that against the facts, other issues, even potentially, mental health issues and try to come up with whether or not it’s a case that we want to pursue at that level. We haven’t done any of that analysis yet.”
During the court hearing Friday, Brauchler made mention of an email snafu that led to the scene being released prematurely.
Because there are questions about whether the defendant will keep his current public defenders or get new attorneys, the judge had earlier requested that the crime scene be maintained.
“That message didn’t get adequately relayed to the investigator on the case,” Brauchler said, “and the scene… was released prematurely.”
At the previous hearing, Lyons claimed that he had hired "John Elway's lawyer."
The defendant had scheduled a news conference with the media on Thursday night, but moments before the interviews were scheduled to start, Lyons' public defender filed an emergency request and the judge granted an order preventing the interviews.
The judge said he would deal with that motion at next week's hearing.
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