ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — An Adams County jury found Jeremy Webster, 27, guilty of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder in the 2018 road rage shooting that killed a 13-year-old boy, wounded his mother and brother and a witness.
The jury handed down their decision in a Brighton courtroom Wednesday afternoon after roughly three hours of deliberations in the case’s second trial, which got underway April 12. He was sentenced to the maximum on all 12 counts, including life in prison without the possibility of parole on the first-degree murder conviction.
Webster's first trial began on July 7, 2021, but the judge declared a mistrial during jury selection after a witness for the prosecution was unable to travel to Colorado to testify.
Webster pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the jury found the 27-year-old knew the difference between right and wrong and was able to make decisions. The judge entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Webster in 2019.
The June 14, 2018 shooting left Vaughn Bigelow Jr., 13, dead and wounded his mother, Meghan Bigelow, and her 8-year-old son. A 12-year-old boy escaped injury but a man who was in his truck nearby was wounded in the shooting.
Webster claimed he became angry on the road because Meghan Bigelow, who was driving with her three sons to a dentist appointment, had cut him off while trying to merge out of the way of an emergency vehicle.
Webster followed the Bigelows into the parking lot of a dentist’s office near Sheridan Boulevard and W. 80th Avenue in Westminster where the shooting occurred.
Prosecutors said Webster shot Meghan Bigelow’s two boys multiple times. Vaughn Bigelow Jr. did not survive. Meghan Bigelow, her 8-year-old son, and the witness were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
After the shooting, Webster fled in a black Toyota Corolla, stopping at a nearby Home Depot to pick up tools before returning to a house he was helping to remodel in Westminster.
About three hours later, Webster was driving home to Colorado Springs on Interstate 25 when he was stopped and arrested north of Meadows Parkway in Castle Rock.
Webster said he was seeing a psychiatrist and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was prescribed medications for that as well as antidepressants.
The 27-year-old was also convicted of five counts of first-degree assault nine sentence enhancers of committing a violent crime causing death or serious bodily injury and for committing a violent crime using a weapon.
Meghan Bigelow and Dr. Sean Whalen, whose practice is located in the same place where the shooting occurred, spoke to the court during the sentencing phase of the trial.
“Because of what the verdicts were today, this part can be closed. But that doesn't mean we’ll ever get Bubba back,” Meghan Bigelow told the court. “All his friends are graduating high school right now and going to college. And every time I get one of those graduation cards, I burst into tears.”
“What you've done to this family, what you've done to this community, what you recklessly did taking the life of a child," Dr. Whalen said. “It's hard sometimes to remember the good times. It's hard sometimes to remember the bad times in your life. But the terror never goes away.
One year after the shooting, in June 2019, the Bigelow family decided to use much of the fundraising from a GoFundMe to establish a scholarship through their Big Waves foundation to honor their son. Big Waves advocates for gun sensibility and safety, according to its website.
The scholarship is open for graduating Colorado high school seniors who play water polo, which was Vaughn's favorite sport. Ryan Bannon, a friend of Vaughn, was the first recipient of the Vaughn Bigelow, Jr. Memorial Scholarship.
