ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Dhaevontae Rogers-Broadus, 18, is slated to appear in Arapahoe County court Wednesday to be sentenced for second-degree murder.
He was a juvenile at the time of two separate deadly shootings for which he has since agreed to a plea deal. His guilty plea dropped his first-degree murder charge down to second-degree, and he faces a sentence between 20 and 30 years.
Rogers-Broadus admits to shooting and killing Raphael Ivan Velin, 15, on Sept. 30, 2023 at Southlands Mall. Just 11 days before that, on Sept. 19, 2023, he was charged in the murder of an Iraqi refugee outside his apartment.
Ahmed Zainuldeen, 23, was inside his apartment in the 7400 block of E. Harvard Avenue when he looked out the window and noticed a group breaking into his car. He went outside to confront the suspects and was shot. The suspects got away with Zainuldeen's silver 2012 Hyundai Sonata, which was later recovered in Aurora.
"She said that they came here to be in a safe place. For Ahmed to be in a safe place and their son Mahmood, and all they have found is just suffering," Zainuldeen's mother, Bushra Hadi Abdullah, said through a translator. "Only nine months into them being here their son was murdered, his life was taken senselessly for something that was just completely a senseless act of violence. Something that was down to just being able to find a way to get a ride home."
Zainuldeen's parents planned to sit in court Wednesday for the sentencing. They said they want the judge to make Rogers-Broadus' sentencing for each killing consecutive, not concurrent.
"If he comes back out after 20-30 years he feels that he can just inflict the same crime again on other families as he did 11 days later. 11 days later he did this similar crime of murder," Ahmed's father, Maath Abdulhameed, said through a translator.
Two other teens were arrested in connection to the shooting and carjacking.
One was sentenced to two years in juvenile detention for aggravated robbery, according to Zainuldeen's family. The other teen, Raydon Collins, also took a plea deal and has an upcoming sentencing for aggravated robbery.
Rogers-Broadus sentencing is slated for 9 a.m.
Prior coverage:
- Mother of 15-year-old shot, killed at Southlands Mall shares how she wants her son to be remembered
- Second teen arrested in deadly September shooting at Southlands Mall in Aurora, police say
- 16-year-old boy arrested in connection with deadly shooting at Southlands Mall
- Arrest warrant issued for a suspect involved in the killing of teen at Southlands Mall in Aurora
- 15-year-old shot, killed outside Southlands Mall in Aurora
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