AURORA | Jevon Bailey had just dropped off a friend and was taking another friend home when he pulled up to the stop sign at East Iliff Avenue and Warren Drive on Dec. 22, 2015.
Then, someone in a nearby car fired four gunshots into Bailey’s blue Volkswagen Jetta, killing the 23-year-old father.
His stepmother, Valinda Bailey, said that in the days right after the shooting — which happened in the middle of the day at a busy intersection — she was confident someone would come forward and tell police who killed her stepson.
“We were just convinced that somebody saw this,” she said.
But in the three months since, the case has gone cold. No arrests have been made and Valinda Bailey said she worries that as time passes the likelihood of her step-son’s killer facing justice grows slimmer.
Bailey is organizing an April 2 memorial walk for Jevon at Overland High School. The walk — which is scheduled for a day before what would have been Jevon’s 24th birthday — is set to start at noon in the school’s south parking lot. Organizers expect to arrive around 10:30 a.m.
The hope, Valinda said, is that the walk will help people remember what happened to Jevon and maybe lead someone to come forward with details, no matter how small.
Denver Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward and the Aurora Police Reward Fund is offering another $2,000. But even with a total reward of $4,000, police haven’t found the break in the case they are looking for.
Aurora police spokeswoman Officer Crystal McCoy said police are hopeful someone in the community will come forward with information that leads them to a suspect.
Valinda Bailey said that based on conversations with the friend who was in the car with Jevon that morning, the two young men had music playing in the car and Bailey wasn’t paying close attention when he drove through a traffic circle, apparently cutting off another motorist.
Jevon apologized and waved to the other driver when he realized what he had done, Bailey said, but the other motorist was enraged.
As Jevon pulled up to the stop sign at Warren and Iliff, the other car — Bailey said it was likely a white Pontiac G6 with dark-tinted windows — pulled up alongside and someone inside fired four shots.
Jevon’s friend was in the passenger seat and managed to climb out and get away unharmed, she said. The gunman then sped away.
Valinda Bailey said investigators think the shooting was road rage.
The shooter, a dark-skinned black man with a beard, was a stranger to Jevon and the friend who was riding with him.
“They didn’t know the guy, had never seen him before,” she said.
That’s especially scary, Valinda Bailey said, because someone willing to shoot a stranger over a minor slight on the road is a risk to everyone else.
She said it’s tough for her to return to the neighborhood where the shooting happened. Jevon went to high school just down the street at Overland, and he was a familiar face in the neighborhood, she said.
He went to a barber shop at Iliff and South Peoria Street and frequented a barbecue restaurant there.
Jevon left behind an infant daughter, Niyah.
Valinda said somebody has to know what happened to her stepson, and she hopes they come forward.
“Any little thing could be something sufficient,” Bailey said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Detective Matt Ingui at 303-739-6067. Tipsters can also call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and still qualify for the reward.
Editor’s note: This story originally referred to Valinda Bailey as Jevon Bailey’s mother. She is Jevon’s stepmother.