AURORA | More than three years after an Aurora man was accused of fatally shooting his mother in the face, an Arapahoe County judge has sentenced Ryan Scott Avery to 48 years in prison for the murder.
“The defendant’s actions are unconscionable,” Senior Deputy DA Joel Zink said in a statement. “In an act of profound betrayal, Mr. Avery murdered his own mother as she sat in a recliner chair in the family room.”

Police were called to the home of Deborah Avery, then 70, and her son Ryan, then 39, the morning of June 20, 2021 by the woman’s daughter.
The daughter discovered her mother dead in a recliner inside the house, shot multiple times, according to police records.
“The autopsy revealed Avery had been shot three times — twice in the face and once in her chest,” 18th Judicial District spokesperson Eric Ross said in a statement. “The investigation quickly focused on Avery’s son, Ryan, who lived at the same home in Aurora.”
His sister told police she’d recently taken over control of her mother’s finances, which became a point of contention between her and Ryan Avery.
After the shooting, police found empty boxes for guns and ammunition in Ryan Avery’s bedroom.
When questioned by police, Ryan Avery denied having access to such weapons, but additional guns and ammunition were also found in his car, according to police and court records.
“The rounds shared the same stamp as the fired shell casings recovered at the crime scene,” Ross said in a statement. “The investigation also revealed the defendant used the same handgun to commit felony crimes of Attempted First-Degree Assault and Felony Menacing against separate victims that same weekend after the murder.”
Those crimes were committed in Elizabeth, police said in 2021, prompting a statewide alert and search for Ryan Avery.
He was found guilty earlier this year of second-degree murder, a homicide committed “in the heat of passion,” and attempted first-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
District Court Judge Joseph R. Whitfield sentenced Avery to 48 years prison.
“The overwhelming physical evidence recovered from Mr. Avery’s bedroom and car along with the initial analysis of the crime scene led investigators straight to Deborah’s killer,” Assistant DA Tom Byrnes said. “I hope this lengthy sentence brings some sense of closure and justice for Deborah’s friends and family.”

With possibility of parole?
The entire city of Aurora? Yikes!