AURORA | A man charged with first-degree murder for killing his sister’s boyfriend in Aurora last spring pleaded not guilty to the crime in Arapahoe County District Court this morning.
Travon Jamir Sanders, 32, was arrested and charged March 16 for shooting and killing 35-year-old David Washington at Sanders’s home near the intersection of Sable Boulevard and East Colfax Avenue.
In an interview with detectives shortly after the murder, Sanders admitted to shooting Washington — who was dating Sanders’s sister at the time of the killing — twice using a .380 caliber handgun, according to an arrest affidavit filed against him.
First responders to the murder scene reported Washington was shot once in the face.
Sanders told police Washington regularly did things to “punk” him and the day before the shooting Washington “shoulder checked” Sanders in the home’s kitchen. He said he was angry that Washington hadn’t said “excuse me” or apologized.
Sanders also told interviewers “he has been picked on all his life, that he has done nothing with his life, and that he hates his life,” according to the affidavit.
Sanders’s mother told police Sanders “has no job, no friends, no girlfriend and he lives in the basement” of her home at 1323 Sable Blvd., according to the affidavit.
After the shooting, Sanders fled the scene on foot while still carrying the handgun used to shoot Washington.
Police found and arrested him less than an hour later about a quarter-mile from his home.
Sanders asked detectives if he could receive the death penalty, and later said “he was sorry for what happened,” according to the affidavit.
Sanders has faced several felony and misdemeanor assault charges over the course of the past decade, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
In 2010, he received a three-year deferred sentence for a pair of felony assault charges. He was also sentenced to serve three years on probation for an additional misdemeanor assault charge, records show.
A motions hearing in the case is scheduled to be held at 8:30 a.m. on March 7 in Arapahoe County, according to Vikki Migoya, spokeswoman for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Sentinel Staff Writer Brandon Johansson contributed to this story.