Recent Northern Colorado homicides raise question: Are we less safe?

Saja Hindi
The Coloradoan
Family photos include Kathy Mondragon, who was killed in 2016 on the night of a brutal attack against her and her granddaughter, Sara Mondragon.

Update 10/19/17: Since this story has been published, Larimer County has had at least four more homicides, one of which was a fatal police shooting.

Sara Mondragon said her daughter still asks about great-grandmother Kathy Mondragon "all the time."

"Whenever the moon comes out, she says, 'There's Grandma.' ... We talk about our memories of her. ... She misses her. We all do," Sara said.

The 61-year-old woman's life was tragically cut short in a double stabbing in Fort Collins in February last year, and her family is struggling to make sense of it all. 

Sara, along with her daughter, lived with Kathy at the time. Sara was the other victim of the stabbing that night. Though she survived, she has at least months of recovery ahead of her.

In August, Sara's ex-boyfriend Tolentino Corzo-Avendano was sentenced to life without parole for Kathy's murder and the attack on Sara. Tomas Vigil, the man with Corzo-Avendano that night, took a plea deal for a first-degree burglary charge.

Sara had broken up with Corzo-Avendano, whom she'd dated for a few months after reconnecting with the former middle school classmate. But on the night of Feb. 9, 2016, she said he pushed his way into her grandmother's house after both Sara's daughter and Kathy had fallen asleep.

"I never expected him to actually hurt me or my family," Sara, now 27, said in an interview about her ex-boyfriend. "I never expected him to hurt anybody like that, especially me."

Sara is still haunted by the fact that she believes her daughter witnessed almost everything — her mother's stabbing and assault, her great-grandmother being stabbed to death, and even at one point, the young girl herself getting thrown across the room.

"She had talked about seeing Grandma with blood on her face," Sara said.

For Kathy's children, Shauna and her brother Adam Mondragon, Fort Collins is a very different place than it was when they were growing up.

Adam remembers his mom's only concern for them as kids when they were playing outside: Be home when the street lights come on.

Even with the changes the family members saw in their beloved town over the years, they never expected such a situation to hit them personally. 

But it did.

Here's what the numbers say

Although the number of homicides in Larimer County has varied over the past 10 years, and in some years even dipped, in the past three years it has risen.

In 2016, the county saw the number of homicides hit double digits for the first time.

According to a Coloradoan analysis, from 2007 to 2016, the number of homicides outpaced growth, going from about 1.4 homicides per 100,000 in 2007 to about 2.9 in 2016. 

So far in 2017, the number of homicides recorded in the county is six, three of which were officer-involved shootings.

Still, compared to numbers in other parts of the state, Larimer County's homicide numbers remain low. CBI data show that 1 in 3 homicides in the state occur in Denver. In 2016, Denver police responded to 57.

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said, as with other crime categories, the trend is "disturbing."

"Homicides are a little unique, because they are low frequency, but obviously a very high consequence," he said. 

Larimer County law enforcement agency representatives recognize there's a perception that the county is getting more dangerous.

A killing at City Park in Fort Collins in June, where it's unclear whether the man accused of sexually assaulting and brutally killing Helena Hoffmann knew her, had residents questioning the safety of the city.

Whether Fort Collins is too welcoming to  those living a transient lifestyle became a topic of heated discussion. The suspect, Jeffrey Etheridge, described himself as a transient on a sex offender registry, though he came to Fort Collins with a family that had relocated here.

Police, however, stress that random killings are the exception, not the norm.

And despite an increase in news traveling through social media at a much faster — and sometimes more dramatic — rate, law enforcement agency representatives say Fort Collins, and Larimer County, are still relatively safe.

Smith said in his 26 years in the county, he has found that Larimer is often insulated from issues other communities have to face.

The county's cities have below-average crime rates compared to other similar-sized cities, he said, and he attributes it to the community's economics.

"The whole region is economically upper-middle class with a higher-educated-than-normal population," Smith said. 

Still, the entire state saw a 3.4 percent increase in violent crime last year from 2015 per 100,000 people, according to CBI data, and in the same time frame, the number of felony filings the Larimer County District Attorney's Office saw a 30 percent surge

"From a law enforcement perspective, we were riding a very successful wave of reduction in crime numbers for years, and for those of us that have been in the business for a while, (we knew) it was only a matter of time before we saw the increase," said interim Fort Collins Police Services Chief Terry Jones.

First, the population is growing. And with growth, Jones notes, crime numbers also go up.

"Fort Collins is growing, it's thriving, it's expanding, and so unfortunately, as a result of the growth, you are going to get unfavorable numbers when it comes to crime statistics," he said.

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Being close to several metro areas also tends to affect the county, with some of that crime seeping into Larimer County, Smith said.

Smith also points to the years when the national population was increasing but violent crimes were going down. Between 1991 and 2014, the population was rising year after year, but crime rates weren't seeing the same increase, he said.

When the recession hit, however, crime rates spiked, Smith said.

But he also attributes some of the changes in crime rates to societal shifts in attitude, especially how they play out on the state and federal levels.

When it appears government is "tough on crime," then the crime rates drop, he said. But in Smith's view, actions from the state or federal government such as giving parole officers in Colorado "almost zero discretion" when dealing with those on probation, creates the opposite effect.  

"My belief is that's emboldening a generation that's showing less respect for the law, fellow citizens' property" and leading to more crimes against individuals, he said.

Change:As Fort Collins grows, iconic businesses fade but memories don't

Factors in murders

While statistically, an area with a larger population has more homicides, Jones said, it's not typically a "stranger-on-stranger" type of crime, nor does he expect to see a surge in the number of homicides in the county any time soon.

"Homicides, unfortunately, will occur, but invariably, they occur because one person feels affronted, offended, or some kind of misguided interpretation of a relationship that goes awry," Jones said.

Police point to the involvement of drugs or alcohol in many incidents of homicide.

The environment has a lot to do with crimes committed, they say. Narcotics, mental health issues and personal vendettas, whether individual, gang-related or otherwise, all play a part. Smith says transient-based crime is one component.

The difficulty with tracking crimes committed by people who are living transient lifestyles, said Sheriff's Office Capt. Robert Coleman, is oftentimes, "they're unknown to us."

Map:Transient complaints spreading across Fort Collins

Officers may not know their backgrounds the same way they know the histories of offenders they've apprehended numerous times.

"Chances are in a normal size community ... there's always that small core that's out there doing 80 or 85 percent of the crime," Coleman said.

So when a violent crime occurs and police have something to go off of, they know who to look for, he added.

Jones said while not all individuals who are living a transient lifestyle commit violent crime, there are other factors to consider within the population, including issues of mental health.

For Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer, another grave concern is a type of homicide people don't generally think about in the traditional sense of the crime: impaired drivers killing others.

That type of behavior — typically caused by a person who doesn't know the victim — leads to death on a daily basis across the country.

What law enforcement is doing

Law enforcement agencies say while homicides are difficult to prevent (other than those caused by impaired drivers), focusing on other problem areas can help.

"Oftentimes, if you address quality of life issues, you'll see a major reduction in crime issues," Jones said.

If officers focus on "taking care of" misdemeanor issues, Jones said it can reduce felonious crimes.

That's a tactic the Larimer County Sheriff's Office also takes.

"Maintaining public trust is a big part of this agency's culture," Coleman said.

So the Sheriff's Office looks to "inundate" areas that may have a higher number of transient people in a public area; they have deputies serving as school resource officers in schools; deputies participate in community programs such as Community Night Out.

More:Francis Gonzales: From distrust of cops to one of FCPS' most trusted

Jones said any modern-day police agency is going to engage the community significantly, and in Colorado in particular, agencies appear to be going back to the days of the "beat cop" where officers cover specific areas and are known to the people who live and work in those areas.

That's why the Loveland Police Department has enacted a new approach that focuses police presence in areas where crimes and crashes overlap, called Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety.

For example, Ticer points out that in many incidents of sexual assault, there's a "drug and alcohol nexus," or in cases of property crimes, many are tied to drug abuse and addiction.

The department is increasing its presence through bike and foot patrols, and like both the Sheriff's Office and Fort Collins Police Services, continues to staff schools with school resource officers.

Ticer said the Loveland Police Department's goal is to "really be in tune with the community."  Loveland police are also making DUI prevention and enforcement efforts a focus in an attempt to prevent further deaths by impaired drivers.

Plus, the agencies in Northern Colorado are working together, Ticer said, and that's a huge asset.

"We know that people who commit crimes do not stop at jurisdictional boundaries," he said.

Through that better communication, coupled with improved technological capabilities to solve crimes, including homicides, law enforcement agencies are more cognizant of what's happening in their communities, Coleman said.

Former Fort Collins residents Sara Mondragon and her mother Shauna Mondragon hang out on the playground where Sara's grandmother Kathy used to frequently take the children of the family, Wednesday, August 6, 2017, at Spring Park in Fort Collins, Colo.

Recovery and reflection

Regardless of the numbers, Jones is quick to point out that homicides happen to real people and they affect families.

Kathy Mondragon was a mother, a grandmother, a neighbor, a loved one.

Her family members speak fondly about how much she loved to bake for other people — and how she was good at it.

But most of all, her granddaughter Sara remembers how she made everyone around her feel — she always put others first, even if it meant hiding her own discomfort.

That applied the most to Sara's now 4-year-old daughter, whom Kathy took care of and loved so much that it brought Kathy to tears when the young girl started preschool. Sara recalls how much her grandmother hated having her picture taken, but when Kathy started caring for Sara's daughter after they moved in with her, she started to take more photos and even sent out a selfie of the two of them together.

The Mondragon case:What you need to know

"My mom was an amazing woman; she brought us all together,"  added Kathy's daughter Shauna Mondragon. And Kathy did that even in her death.

Shauna's brother Adam recalls talking to his mother about his childhood and how much he and his sister loved it, and Kathy response that she was glad, because there were some days where she was brought to tears with worry over whether the single mom would be able to feed her children.

"She hid it so well," he said. And after she died, her children took on her workload and were amazed that she never asked for help.

The Mondragon family feels that despite the support they received after the stabbings — though they also faced detractors — one thing was forgotten throughout the aftermath: who Kathy Mondragon was as a person.

So her family is working on raising funds to build a memorial bench in her honor at Spring Park in Fort Collins, where Kathy often would take Sara's now-4-year-old daughter to play.

For the Mondragons, dealing with the aftermath of Feb. 9, 2016, the night that completely upended their lives, is a constant challenge.

Sara keeps replaying that night over and over in her head.

"He not only ruined my family, he ruined his family, too," Sara said of Corzo-Avendano.

She never expected what happened to her and her grandmother to ever occur, and she hopes others will heed her advice: Don't wait to ask for help until someone becomes violent.

Sara was facing emotional harassment from her ex-boyfriend before the night of the stabbing, she said, but didn't think to tell anyone.

"He would make it known that he always knew where I was and what I was doing, and he would make it known that he could without warning show up," she said.

Sara and her daughter now live with Shauna and Sara's younger brother in Wyoming.

She could no longer imagine living in her grandmother's home, and she became unable work because of her head injuries, trauma and inability to walk without assistance.

And as hard as the family members looked, they couldn't find anywhere suitable or available for them to live in Northern Colorado.

Then there's the recovery period — both physically and emotionally, it's grueling. Sara was used to working daily while she received help from her grandmother. She was used to being able to do things independently each day. She was used to being able to walk in Fort Collins without something triggering traumatic memories. And she was used to not constantly worrying about her daughter's trauma.

But Sara remains determined on her path to recovery: "I will walk again."

Reporter Saja Hindi covers public safety and local politics. You can follow her on Twitter at @BySajaHindi or email her at shindi@coloradoan.com.

This story has a correction: The spelling of Tolentino Corzo-Avendano's name has been corrected.

Former Fort Collins residents Sara Mondragon and her little brother Mike Griego, 10, play on the playground where their grandmother Kathy Mondragon used to take them, Wednesday, August 6, 2017, at Spring Park in Fort Collins, Colo.


The people

A look at homicides in Larimer County over the past three years includes the connection between the victim and suspect, where known.

2015:
Angela Howard: The 36-year-old Loveland woman was found dead in her home on Feb. 1 after being shot. Police considered 52-year-old Russel Woolman a person of interest, and Boulder County Sheriff's Office deputies later found him dead inside Howard's car near Lyons.

Merta HoyerThe 62-year-old Fort Collins woman was found killed in her home on April 23 before her husband Darrell's body was found later that day in what was ruled a murder-suicide.
William Connole: The 65-year-old Loveland man was shot and killed while walking near his neighborhood June 4. Connole was shot during a spate of Northern Colorado killings that remain unsolved.
Gerald Donovan: The 75-year-old Loveland man was shot and killed on June 6. His neighbor Eric Gray faces a charge of first-degree murder with deliberation.
David Wheat: The 22-year-old Fort Collins man was fatally shot by Fort Collins Police Services officers on July 18. The District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting justified.
Randall Cargill: The 25-year-old Fort Collins man was shot and killed by former friend and roommate Andrew Watkins, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 41 years for the shooting near the Alley Cat Cafe on July 21.
WilliamRippley: The 45-year-old Loveland man was fatally shot by a Loveland Police Department officer on Aug. 31. The District Attorney's Office cleared all officers involved of any wrongdoing.
*Note: The shooting task force investigating Connole's death is also investigating the death of the 47-year-old man John Jacoby, who was shot and killed in Windsor while riding his bike to work. Windsor Police Department responded to the incident, which is why his name does not appear on this Larimer County list.

2016:
Raelynn Coria-Martinez: The 11-month-old died from injuries sustained while her mother's boyfriend was allegedly watching her in Fort Collins. Juan Canales-Hernandez is accused of hitting her while he was babysitting the young girl Sept. 7 and then concocting a story to cover it up to police with her mother Alexa Coria. Coria was sentenced to five years in community corrections.
Benjamin McKinley: The 44-year-old Fort Collins transient man was found in an abandoned shed on Nov. 18, and two other transient men were accused of stabbing and killing him. Anthony Horne pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and Matthew Tattii pleaded not guilty.
Kathy Mondragon: The 61-year-old Fort Collins woman was fatally stabbed by her granddaughter's ex-boyfriend Tolentino Corzo-Avendano on Feb. 9. He was sentenced to life without parole.
Duane Gardner: The 50-year-old Fort Collins man was fatally stabbed on Nov. 21 in an apartment parking lot after reportedly trying to break up an argument between a woman and David Strunk. Strunk has been charged with first-degree murder after deliberation.
Ashley Doolittle: The 18-year-old Berthoud teen was kidnapped and shot on June 9. Her ex-boyfriend Tanner Flores is accused of kidnapping and killing her after she broke up with him, with his trial set for later this month.
Jessie Haley: The 29-year-old Loveland woman was found dead on April 30 with 38-year-old Jared Haley, who was also found dead after Loveland Police officers responded to a report of an argument in a home. Jessie Haley's death was ruled a homicide and Jared Haley's death was ruled a suicide.
Denver Wolf: The 16-year-old Colorado Springs girl was shot and killed on March 28 north of Fort Collins by her father, Robert Fancis Wolf, according to notes he left, in a reported murder-suicide. 
Devon Smeltz: The 20-year-old Fort Collins man died of multiple gunshot wounds on Feb. 26 in what police say was a robbery related to drug activity. Three Cincinnati men were arrested for his murder: Joshua Baker, Lawrence Greggs and Michael Gresham.

Jerry Jackson: The 63-year-old Fort Collins man was fatally shot by three Fort Collins Police Services officers on Aug. 25. The District Attorney's Office cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.
Phillip Salazar: The 38-year-old Fort Collins man was fatally shot by a Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputy on Jan. 29. The District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting justified.

2017:

Thomas Koontz: The 44-year-old Loveland man was strangled to death in May, reportedly by his girlfriend's son, but no charges were filed after the District Attorney's Office ruled that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was not in self-defense.
Stephen Rich: The 48-year-old Loveland man was shot and killed by Loveland police on June 8 in what the District Attorney's Office ruled was justifiable due to a safety risk to both officers and civilians.
Heather "Helena" Hoffmann: The 23-year-old Fort Collins woman was found in Sheldon Lake at City Park, and Jeffrey Scott Etheridge is on trial facing allegations of sexually assaulting and killing her.
Chet Knuppel: The 23-year-old Fort Collins man was fatally shot by a Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputy on June 30 who was subsequently cleared by the Larimer County District Attorney's Office.
Jeremy Holmes: The 19-year-old Fort Collins man was fatally shot by a Fort Collins Police Services office and a Colorado State University officer on July 1, which the Larimer County District Attorney's Office ruled justified.
William Grabusky: The 65-year-old Fort Collins man was found dead in his apartment on July 23 and was determined to have been killed 10 days prior. Dylan Thompson is on trial for Grabusky's murder. Their connection is unclear.

 

Homicides, past 10 years
Larimer County:

2017: 9 (year to date)

2016: 10

2015: 7

2014: 6

2013: 4

2012: 4

2011: 5

2010: 5

2009: 6

2008: 6

2007: 4

Source: Larimer County Coroner's Office