'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
A judge sentenced a former high school student convicted of first degree murder and other charges for a 2019 shooting attack inside a suburban Denver high school that killed one student and injured eight others to mandatory life in prison without parole on Friday, telling the defendant he had shown no remorse and had failed to help a devastated community understand his actions.
Devon Erickson was convicted in June of all 46 charges against him, including murder in the death of Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old senior hailed as a hero for trying to stop the attack on a classroom at STEM School Highlands Ranch south of Denver. Eight other students were injured.
Prosecutors said Erickson, now 20, partnered with fellow student Alec McKinney in the May 7, 2019, shooting. Since Erickson was 18 and an adult at the time of the shooting, he faced a mandatory life sentence.
After a lengthy and emotional hearing in which survivors shared their continuing pain, trauma and disruptions to their lives, Judge Theresa Michelle Slade added hundreds of years of prison time to Erickson's life sentence for multiple attempted murder and other charges he was convicted of.
Wearing handcuffs, a red-and-white-striped prison suit and a blue face mask, Erickson displayed virtually no emotion during the hearing except for blowing his nose into his mask after sentencing. He also appeared briefly emotional as his parents, sister and grandfather told him they loved him in their testimony.
"I don't think there is anything I can say to you, Mr. Erickson, that would make any difference," the judge said, recounting how the shootings had devastated not only the lives of those at the school and their families but well beyond the suburban Douglas County community where the school is located.
Slade also said Erickson, who declined to speak Friday, never attempted to explain why he did what he did -- leaving a gaping hole in a community seeking at least some sense of partial closure.
"I don't believe, Mr. Erickson, at least for now, that it makes a difference to you," the judge said. "So what you do the rest of your life in prison, that's not on me. It's on you."
McKinney, who was 16 and a juvenile at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to life last year but could become eligible for parole after about 20 years in prison under a program for juvenile offenders.
Erickson and McKinney targeted a classroom of high school students who were sitting in the dark, watching a movie at the end of their senior year. The two entered through separate doors to maximize the number of students they could kill, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that Erickson and McKinney concocted a "victim-hero" plan in which McKinney would either kill himself or be killed by Erickson.
The shootings stopped when Castillo and two other students, Joshua Jones and Brendan Bialy, charged Erickson, whose gun jammed after he fired four times. McKinney was apprehended by a school security guard.
Defense attorneys argued that Erickson was pressured into participating by McKinney, who testified against Erickson after pleading guilty last year. The defense also suggested that Castillo was accidentally shot as he pushed Erickson against a wall.
After the shooting, McKinney told investigators that he planned the attack for weeks and intended to target classmates who repeatedly mocked him because he was transgender, according to court documents.
At his sentencing hearing last year, McKinney said he did not want leniency and urged anyone planning a school shooting to get help. But he also suggested the shooting was Erickson's idea.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.