DA will not seek death penalty for accused Berthoud killer

District Attorney Cliff Riedel will not seek the death penalty in the case against the Berthoud man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend last summer.

Tanner Flores, now 19, is accused of shooting 18-year-old Ashley Doolittle in Larimer County before driving her body to a small town on the Western Slope last June.

In a pretrial conference at the Larimer County Justice Center on Monday, Riedel told Eighth Judicial District Judge Gregory M. Lammons that he would not seek the death penalty in the case, which goes to trial next week.

More:Accused Berthoud teen killer: 'I shot her'

In Colorado, the death penalty is only an option for Class 1 felonies when the prosecution declares ahead of time in writing that they will seek it, which triggers a separate sentencing hearing after a guilty verdict is reached.

At that hearing, attorneys debate aggravating factors, and the jury votes on whether to give the defendant life in prison or the death penalty. The decision must be unanimous.

Flores has been charged with two Class 1 felonies: first-degree murder after deliberation and felony murder. He has also been charged with felony second-degree kidnapping.

One year later:Ashley Doolittle's parents speak about their loss

Although the death penalty remains legal in Colorado, only one person has been executed in Colorado in the last 50 years. Three people currently sit on death row, but Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper granted the man closest to being executed an indefinite reprieve in 2013, citing inconsistencies in the law's application and the difficulties in obtaining the drugs necessary for lethal injection, according to reporting by the Associated Press. 

A jury could not unanimously decide on execution for James Holmes — the man who killed 12 people and injured dozens more in an attack on a movie theater in Aurora in 2012 — despite finding him guilty on 165 counts of murder and other charges. 

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in court. Arrests and charges are merely accusations by law enforcement until, and unless, a suspect is convicted of a crime.