DENVER (The Denver Post) — A man accused of killing a Colorado sheriff's deputy in 2018 will no longer face the death penalty if he is convicted.
District Judge Mark Warner on Wednesday granted a petition from prosecutors to drop the death penalty as a possible punishment for 24-year-old Dreion Dearing.
He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Adams County Sheriff's Deputy Heath Gumm.
Dearing was still eligible to face the death penalty despite Colorado banning capital punishment in new cases.
But District Attorney Dave Young said that it was pointless to pursue it since Gov. Jared Polis has shown he will commute death sentences to life sentences.
