AURORA | The last of three suspects who faced murder charges for the 2009 slaying of a man at an East Colfax Avenue motel has accepted a plea deal with prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Riley Godfrey, 30, pleaded guilty Sept. 14 to first-degree burglary and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the slaying of Kendrick Williams, 25. The plea deal meant Gidfrey avoided a trial that was scheduled to start last week.
The assault and burglary charges can carry a sentence of up to 32 years, but it’s unclear from court records if Godfrey and prosecutors agreed on a sentence when he accepted the deal.His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 15.
Police said Williams was shot after a dispute with Godfrey and two of Godfrey’s friends.
Godfrey was charged with first-degree murder and several other crimes stemming from Williams’ December 2009 slaying at the Riviera Motel.
Two other people were also arrested in connection with the slaying — Darius Turner and Marquesa Johnson. Turner pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last spring and was later sentenced to 46 years in prison. Johnson pleaded guilty in January 2011 to being an accessory to a crime, a Class 4 felony, in exchange for prosecutors dropping 12 other charges against her. She was later released from the Arapahoe County Jail after spending more than a year there.
At Turner’s sentencing, he said he wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger that night, though prosecutors disagreed.
According to court documents, the trio were on Colfax the night of the shooting when they met up with Williams.
At some point, a dispute erupted and Williams fled to his room at the Riviera, where he was staying with a woman. The three suspects pounded on the door and windows, shouting threats before breaking down the door.
Williams fled to the bathroom but the group pursued him, eventually breaking down that door as well. The woman with Williams said Godfrey grabbed a pistol from Turner and shot Williams several times.
A short time later, police arrived and arrested Godfrey and Johnson near the scene. Police arrested Turner the next day at an Aurora convenience store.