'I don't deserve leniency': Transgender pupil, 17, breaks down in tears as he is sentenced to life for the murder of an 18-year-old student who confronted him during school shooting he committed after being bullied over his gender identity
A transgender teenager involved in a deadly school shooting in Denver in May 2019 sobbed Friday as he was sentenced to life plus 38 additional years in prison for murder.
Alec McKinney, 17, broke down on several occasions as he read a personal statement to Douglas County Court ahead of his sentencing, telling the judge, 'I don't deserve leniency'.
One student was killed and eight others injured during the 'heartless attack' mounted by McKinney and his alleged co-conspirator Devon Erickson, 19.
Kendrick Castillo, 18, was shot in the chest and killed after reportedly tackling Erickson and attempting to wrestle a handgun away from him. Erickson has pleaded not guilty to murder charges, and will face trial later this year.
In the lengthy 22-minute statement, McKinney apologized to his friends, family, and the victims and their families, as he admitted he doesn't 'know how to describe the sorrow I feel when I think of the victims'.
He also blasted those who idolize him for the school shooting as 'stupid' and implored them to seek help instead of picking up gun.
McKinney is believed to have mounted the attack in retaliation for being bullied because of his gender identity.
Alec McKinney, 17, sobbed during Friday's hearing in Colorado as he delivered a personal statement in which he apologized to victims and said he did not want a lighter sentence
Kendrick Castillo was killed during a shooting at the STEM School in May 2019
John and Maria Castillo asked for the longest possible sentence for the murder of their son
More than 20 victims also addressed the hearing Friday as they told Judge Jeffrey K. Holmes of the horror of the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch on May 7, 2019.
Among those who spoke were the parents of 'I condemn you to hell. I will never forgive you, I hate you,' his father John Castillo said, as he addressed McKinney through a TV screen.
On the day of the shooting, McKinney and Erickson broke into Erickson's parents safe to steal firearms.
They then set a car alight before driving to school and opening fire on an English class.
Two people were also injured by a security guard who helped to detain one of the suspects.
Kendrick Castillo, 18, died after he tackled one of the suspects during the shooting
'I killed their innocence. I killed their ambitions. And I killed their sense of security. I not only physically killed people, I mentally killed people too. I don't know how to describe the sorrow I feel when I think of the victims,' McKinney said of the impact of his crime.
'The horror I caused is truly too much for anyone to bear.'
In February, McKinney pleaded guilty under a plea deal to a reduced number of felonies, including a first-degree murder charge.
He told police on his arrest that he was targeting students in the school who 'always made fun of him, "hated him," called him names and said he was disgusting for trying to be a guy'.
In his personal statement Friday, however, he admitted that he did not know some of the eventual victims of the attack.
'I don't deserve leniency, nor forgiveness. I don't want a lighter sentence,' McKinney continued.
McKinney called his own actions 'horrid, unforgivable, and cowardly' as he hit out at those who idolized him for the shooting and called them 'stupid'.
'How could you idolize someone who hides behind a gun, who hurt people, who was so weak they couldn't get help,' he said.
'Don’t be a coward and hide behind a gun. Be brave and learn how to get help. Face what you’re feeling.'
The teen also spoke of his victims who he described as funny, smart people, who made others smile.
'At the time I didn’t fully think about how many people I would hurt. I was high, impulsive and hurt,' he said, addressing each one and apologizing
'The reasons I did this are stupid and pitiful.'
He addressed the Castillo family also and said that the thought of their pain is 'recurring in my nightmares'.
'I want every positive thing I do in life to be for him,' he added.
McKinney's troubled childhood had been widely discussed during his trial, according to The Lemar Ledger.
His father is said to have been absent and an absentee mother and drugs were used in the home. He said during his own statement that he used drugs himself.
Devon Erickson, 19, has pleaded not guilty to all the same charges McKinney originally faced in the shooting
McKinney was said to have struggled with his sexuality and become angrier with his experience.
He allegedly told police after the shooting that he targeted three students who bullied him for being transgender.
He also addressed his mother during his personal statement.
'To my mom, you have shown me that my love is truly unconditional,' he began.
'Most of my life I have felt obligated to take care of you. I never wanted anyone to hurt you again. I’m sorry I did this to you.'
McKinney faced an automatic life sentence with the chance of parole after 40 years for the murder charge but Judge Holmes was to decide on sentencing for the 16 other charges.
He could have placed a maximum of 408 additional years to the life sentence.
Instead, McKinney was sentenced to 38 additional years added to his murder charge, despite victims calls for a maximum sentence.
John Castillo and his wife Maria were among twenty people who spoke, some remotely, during Friday's seven-hour hearing as they called for McKinney to receive the longest possible sentence.
'My son’s life mattered and as long I am alive I will do anything and anything in power to make sure this evil killer will pay for what he did,' said the victim's mother Maria Castillo as she cried recalling the day of her son's death.
'I will never forgive. My only wish is to see him dead, burning in hell,' she added of McKinney.
'Look at my face you coward,' John Castillo said. 'I hope you know when you did this to a Castillo you’re going to pay. You disgust me. Know that you are nothing and I'll fight you to the end.'
Among the others to testify were McKinney's teacher Gabriella Leddy who described him as 'one of my favorite students'.
She said that she had noticed he was struggling and reach out, inviting him to join the LGBTQ support group which she sponsored.
Leddy had been teaching in the room next to 107, where the attack took place. She told how she had text goodbye to her husband and daughter and how the smell of drywall still makes her vomit.
'This is a heartless attack that spit in the face of caring adults like me,' she said.
'I cannot express the amount of betrayal knowing it was Alec who orchestrated this evil attack. He must have known he was putting me and his classmates I thought were his friend in danger.'
His classmates and friends also expressed their shock that McKinney could have done this.
'I never judged him for one second,' Nui Giasoli said, telling judge she considered McKinney to be her best friend.
'It didn't matter to me if he was a boy or a girl. Yet I was his first target. He had a gun aimed at the back of my head. He was running to shoot. He was running to end my chance at my life. He was running to take me away from my mom.'
She added that she believed he was only now crying during the hearing because he had been caught.
'He made himself judge, jury and executioner of room 107,' Giasolli said. 'He hasn’t shown any remorse. He’s not crying cause he regrets it — he’s crying cause he got caught.'
STEM school middle school building in Colorado where shooter Devon Erickson and Alec McKinney carried out their attack on May 7, 2019
The shooters targeted an English class in the school, killing one. Eight others were shot
The mother of another friend spoke of the horror of learning that he had targeted her daughter.
'He stood behind her where she couldn’t see and had a gun pointed at her,' the mom testified, according to 9News. 'She was a target despite the caring and respect she had shown him.'
'The event he [Alec] put into motion still haunts me to this day. How can someone you never knew hurt you so much?' added student Aidan Morrison. 'I hope you suffer in prison because you deserve it.'
McKinney, dressed in a dark polo shirt, himself delivered his own statement through which he broke down in tears on many occasions while apologizing to each of his victims as he said that he was not calling for 'leniency'.
He had earlier heard from his younger siblings Angel and Erica in a letter read out by his legal team during which McKinney broke down in anguish.
Friends of McKinney, pictured, spoke at the hearing and said that they could not believe that he had targeted them
'Alex has always been the glue of his family,' they said. 'We just hope to be able to see him face to face.'
McKinney's mother had also testified earlier in the day in which she apologized to the families her son had hurt.
'I know it's quite different but I've lost mine [son] too. We are also going to be left with these scars forever,' she said.
'But your son [Kendrik] was a hero and always, always will be.'
McKinney's defense had said that the teen had requested that they did not push for a lighter sentence but added that his mental health should be taken into consideration.
'It shocks me that Alec is the one who caused this. He is kind and he is caring. He will show everyone that he can change and he will continue to change while spending his time in the department of corrections,' they said.
'We must deal with the root of these problems - mental illness.'
McKinney was 16 at the time of the shooting so, even though he was prosecuted as an adult, he could be paroled after about 25 years in prison no matter what sentence he receives, unlike his alleged conspirator Erickson, who was 18 at the time.
According to 9News, under Colorado law, defendants who commit crimes as juveniles cannot be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole
The minimum sentence for first-degree murder for a juvenile is life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years while the minimum sentence for an adult is life without the possibility of parole.
McKinney was sentenced to life with parole plus 38 additional years
McKinney pleaded guilty to charges for the wounding of six other people who were allegedly shot by either McKinney or Erickson and two other people who were mistakenly shot by a security guard responding to the shooting.
A judge could have sentenced McKinney to serve sentences for all the counts at the same time of his life sentence for the murder count or could tack on extra years for each of the other 16 counts on top of the life sentence.
Erickson, 19, has pleaded not guilty to all the same charges McKinney originally faced in the shooting.
His lawyers have portrayed McKinney as the ringleader who pressured Erickson to participate.
He is scheduled to go on trial in late September.
He will not face the death penalty if he is convicted.
Colorado became the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty this year but Erickson could have still been eligible for it because the shooting happened before that law was passed.
While Castillos' parents supported pursing capital punishment, District Attorney George Brauchler decided not to, noting that Erickson's lawyers could have argued against it because of his age, lack of a criminal history and other mitigating factors.
