AURORA | An Aurora woman who was drinking and high on crack when she shot a man in an Aurora driveway in 2014 has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Joel Mary Felix, 37, was found guilty by a jury March 17 of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, causing serious bodily injury, as well as felony menacing.
On Monday, Arapahoe District Judge Ben Leutwyler sentenced Felix to 25 years in prison for the assault and 12 years for menacing. The sentences will be served concurrently.
Felix was at a friend’s house Oct. 21, 2014, where prosecutors said she had been drinking alcohol and smoking crack for several hours. It was at that time she became confrontational and began accusing others in the home of stealing from her.
Prosecutors said Felix started yelling and waving a gun on the front porch when, with no provocation, she shot a 36-year-old man who was in a nearby driveway. The victim, who was shot in the stomach, lost 12 liters of blood but survived.
“This defendant was on probation for her second and third felony convictions when she shot a citizen in cold blood for no reason, then callously walked away to let him die,”said Senior Deputy District Attorney Gary Dawson, who prosecuted the case. “If it was not for the pure luck of having a combat veteran and an off-duty police officer within seconds of where the victim fell, and the extraordinary work of the emergency staff at the hospital to save the victim, his life would not have been saved.
“Joel Felix should spend every day of her 25-year sentence thanking the people who saved the victim’s life for sparing her from the life sentence she would so richly deserve if their extraordinary efforts had failed.”
District Attorney George Brauchler supported the sentence.
“The conduct here was outrageous,” he said. “Firearms should not be in the hands of convicted felons and crack users.”