DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — The 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office has cleared a Douglas County deputy of any criminal charges in the shooting death of a 23-year-old armed man outside the Main Event entertainment center in Highlands Ranch in February.
District Attorney George Brauchler announced during a Monday afternoon press conference that Deputy Nicholas Moore was justified when he fired nine rounds at Jalin Seabron, who was holding a gun and refused to drop the weapon as he turned toward the deputy.
No criminal charges will be filed against Deputy Moore, who has 11 years of law enforcement experience.
The Feb. 8 shooting outside the Highlands Ranch entertainment complex occurred just as deputies, responding to a report of a shooting inside the Main Event, arrived on the scene.
That reported shooting inside the restaurant, bar, and entertainment complex located at 64 Centennial Boulevard stemmed from an argument inside a bathroom and left a 22-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her chest. She was transported to the hospital and survived her injuries.
Deputies arrested 23-year-old Nevaeha Rayon Crowley-Sanders in connection with the bathroom shooting and allege Seabron was trying to help Crowley-Sanders escape from the Main Event when Deputy Moore shot him.
- Watch the full announcement in the video player below
During Monday's press conference, Brauchler said this case was different than all the other law enforcement shootings he has handled in his career. He said he met with the family and gave them copies of the decision letter before he released it to the media.
"The loss of that life is a tragedy, and having just spoken with his mother and other family members, the loss is incalculable. As a father of three boys, I cannot imagine what it would be like to have one of them go off to a birthday party, their own birthday party, and never return home," Brauchler said.
But despite the tragic circumstances surrounding the incident, Brauchler determined that the shooting was a justified use of deadly force under Colorado law.
Brauchler believes that given what Moore knew as he responded to the active shooter situation, his actions were "objectively reasonable."
"Looking at it in the rearview mirror, it's easy to come up with 8 million things we might have, could have done, but the deputy didn't have the ability to do that," he said. "He didn't have a rearview mirror. He had just what was in front of him and what was in his head, and that's what we've analyzed."
Last month, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office released body-worn and exterior surveillance video of the officer-involved shooting. The released video clips appear to show Seabron was agitated and moving the firearm up and down as Deputy Moore approached.
A man can then be heard on the deputy’s body-worn camera video screaming “No!” several times. The deputy fired nine rounds at Seabron, and moments later, he radioed that shots had been fired.
Seabron was declared dead on the scene.
"There is no justification"
Members of Seabron's family, attorney Tyrone Glover and activist MiDian Shofner held a press conference shortly after Brauchler announced his decision that the shooting was justified. They rejected Brauchler's findings and demanded charges be filed against Deputy Moore.
"We don't necessarily see a lot of officers charged with first-degree murder, but criminally negligent homicide, reckless manslaughter — definitely seems like they could have at least gotten there," Glover said.
Glover's account of the story includes that Seabron was armed because he was trying to defend his pregnant girlfriend, who was being threatened by someone else who was armed at the scene.
- Hear from the family in the video player below
Shofner claimed that Brauchler withheld details surrounding the shooting.
"Some of the things that he refused to mention were that Jalin Seabron, as he bled out on the pavement, he was handcuffed by... Deputy Nicholas Moore," Shofner said.
Seabron's mother, Veronica Seabron, said there was no justification for the amount of shots fired at her son.
"There is no justification why I should be standing here without my 23-year-old son," she said. "There is no justification for as many shots fired. There is no justification for criminalizing him before anything was ever released... This will never be justified to me."
Seabron's father, Dennis Crowley, said his son was "gunned down like a dog."
"The way that Douglas County has chosen to handle this is despicable," he said.
Shofner said the outcome is a result of an unjust system.
"We see when our white counterparts are actually threatening the officers, menacing vehicles against the officers, holding weapons, yet they are still being detained alive," she said.
Seabron's family and activists want Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to review the case, hoping to put pressure on other elected officials.
Crowley-Sanders was charged with more than 100 counts in connection with the shooting. Six other suspects were arrested weeks after the shooting.
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