Family Of Kilyn Lewis Responds to Channel 9 Suing APD

The Aurora Police Department (APD) is  refusing to release the bodycam footage that contains the final moments of Kilyn E. Lewis’ life. Police officer Michael Dieck shot Kilyn Lewis on May 23, 2024, and still no justice has been done. The family of Kilyn Lewis has attended multiple Aurora City Council meetings demanding justice, accountability, even an apology and acknowledgement of what the APD did and have been unsuccessful. Mike Coffman has even called protestors and supporters of Kilyn and his family “terrorists” for speaking out and demanding there be accountability. (Colorado will be voting for local candidates and ballot measures in November of 2025, just in case you were wondering).

Media source Channel 9 News of Denver has gotten involved and are now suing the APD under the Colorado Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act (ELEIA) for not releasing the footage of Kilyn’s murder. The family of Kilyn Lewis has issued a response to this new development. They say, “It is both infuriating and deeply disheartening that a law enforcement agency, already under a consent decree for its well-documented history of racial bias and excessive force, must be taken to court simply to adhere to legislation designed to ensure transparency. The refusal to release the full footage raises serious questions about what Aurora Police are trying to hide.” The APD is the same police department that is responsible for the deaths of Elijah McClain and Jor’Dell Richardson.

There is no reason this should have happened. The police maim and murder Black people so often, people aren’t even affected when they hear that another person’s life was taken for no reason. Kilyn held no weapon, posed no threat, and did not deserve to be killed. The very least that the APD could do is be honest and show Kilyn’s mother, LaRonda Jones, the footage of her son’s death that she asked for. Mike Coffman has taken to Facebook making inflammatory posts and rants and saying that the Lewis Family are the ones filing a lawsuit, which is untrue. He has apparently also accused the Lewis Family of only seeking justice for a payout, as if any amount of money could compensate for a life. The Lewis Family says, “This blatant misrepresentation is yet another attempt to distract from the real issue: APD has failed to comply with the law and continues to resist accountability.”

This is why we say Black Lives Matter—because they are clearly worth less to some people. I could give a whole lecture about the origins of modern-day policing and how it evolved from Slave Patrols, or I could give all the statistics about how disproportionately Black people are killed by the police. But, I should not have to prove why Black people shouldn’t be shot in cold blood. A mother shouldn’t have to beg and plead to see how her son died. Laronda Jones says, “No mother should have to beg to see the last moments of her child’s life. They took my son from me, and now they want to erase him—erase the truth. But I won’t let them. I will fight until the world knows what they did to Kilyn. My son was more than their headlines and lies. He was loved, and his life mattered.”

MiDian Shofner, family advocate and CEO of the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, says in the statement, “When justice is locked behind closed doors, we break them down. This is not only about Kilyn; this is about every Black mother who has had to bury her child and then watch as his name is twisted into something unrecognizable. Aurora’s leadership may try to bury the truth, but the community will not let them. Justice is not a privilege—It is a demand.”

The Lewis Family wants to thank those in the community who have stood with them. They refuse to be intimidated, and they refuse to let law enforcement and elected officials try to rewrite history or absolve themselves of accountability. Not just for Kilyn Lewis, but for all families who have been and are currently being dehumanized by the policing systems. They say:

“To the community: We see you. We hear you. We thank you for standing with us in the fight for justice.

“To Aurora Police and Mayor Coffman: Release the full video. Stop hiding behind bureaucracy and baseless justifications. To the living, we owe respect; to the dead, we owe the truth. Justice for Kilyn Lewis!”