Family fights to keep Denver detective’s killer behind bars

By Chierstin Susel

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    DENVER (KCNC) — A man sentenced in the 2005 murder of Denver Police Detective Donald “Donnie” Young is now trying to use a Colorado law to apply for early parole.

“As victims, they tell you we have all these rights and this and that, but you don’t,” said Kourtney Krietemeier, one of Young’s daughters. “The offenders have more rights than we do.”

Kourtney and her sister Kelsey are working to make sure their father’s killer remains in prison. Raul Gomez-Garcia, 39, an undocumented immigrant and known member of the gang MS-13, was 19 years old at the time he killed Young, for which he was convicted and sentenced to 80 years in prison.

“When he was picked up in Mexico, he, point blank, asked the marshal, ‘which one died?'” Kourtney said. “He wanted to know, ‘was it the dark-haired one or the blonde one?’ And they told him ‘the dark-haired one,’ and he said, ‘good, I’m glad it was him.'”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a law in 2021 that expanded a parole eligibility program for young adults charged with serious crimes. The law raised the age for eligibility into the program to 21 when the crime was committed.

This month, the victim’s family was notified that Gomez-Garcia had applied for the program. If accepted, he would be eligible for early parole after completing a minimum three-year collaborative program.

“I think him being able to apply for this, like, juvenile and young offenders program, it paints him in this, like, young and innocent kind of way, and that is not the story,” said Kourtney.

Twenty years later, the family is forced to relive the tragedy.

“My first memory in life is my mom taking me into the bedroom and telling me that my dad wasn’t coming home,” said Kelsey. “And I just remember through like, the whole funeral, like looking at my mom and how sad she was, and like everyone around me and how sad they were.”

“I’ll never forget the funeral,” Kourtney added. ” I don’t think we could have fit another body in that church. And I remember just the streets were lined with people for miles. And you know, I wrote about that in my letter because I think, you know, my dad at some point, whether like, directly or indirectly, had impacted those people’s lives.”

The letter Kourtney is referring to was written to help prevent their dad’s killer from taking advantage of the parole eligibility program. Former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey also wrote a letter with the same sentiment.

“In my 33 years of prosecuting murderers, I’ve never seen anybody that was as proud as this man was of the act that he had committed,” said Morrissey. “Now, understand, he was 19 years old, but he was proud. He knew he hit the target he wanted, and he was happy that he killed Donnie Young.”

Morrisey worked out a deal to bring Gomez-Garcia back to Colorado after he fled to Mexico. That deal took the death penalty off the table, and a judge sentenced him to 80 years of parole with eligibility starting in 2053. He’s currently incarcerated at the Limon Correctional Facility in Limon, about 100 miles southeast of Denver. If he’s not granted parole, he would complete his sentence in 2081 when he’s 95 years old.

“I remember Mitch coming to the house and having that discussion with my mom,” Kourtney said.

“I think her thought of bringing him back was that we would have comfort knowing where he was, and I think that has provided me, and I think I can speak for the whole family, like knowing that he is locked up and we know where he is, so this just completely takes that safety blanket away,” Kelsey added.

The family says they’ve now turned their attention to getting this law amended to create exceptions, but it’s something Morrissey isn’t confident will happen.

“If he gets denied, and he certainly should, in three years, he gets to apply again,” Morrissey said. “There is nothing about this case that’s going to change in three years. It’s all about revictimizing families like the young family, and there will be more of these, and this law needs to be changed. And I don’t believe the Colorado legislature will lift a finger to do this. I don’t believe Governor Polis will lift a finger to change this law.”

CBS News Colorado reached out to Polis’ office, a spokesperson said the Governor “has no role in determining whether someone does or does not apply for a particular program as outlined in statute and the Department of Corrections’ Administrative Regulation.”

The spokesperson added, in part, “Governor Polis will work with anyone to improve public safety and keep dangerous criminals, including individuals who kill police officers, off the streets.”

If Gomez-Garcia is admitted to the program, it would take a minimum of three years before he could petition for early release.

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