Erickson was convicted in June of all 46 charges against him, including first-degree murder, after carrying out an attack inside the suburban Denver high school that he attended in 2019.
Eight students were injured in the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch and one who attempted to stop the attack, Kendrick Castillo, was killed. Erickson, who is now 20 years old, was 18 and an adult at the time of the shooting and consequently will face a mandatory life sentence.
He and then-student Alec McKinney, who was 16 at the time, collaborated in the shooting, prosecutors said. McKinney was sentenced to life in prison in 2020 but could qualify for parole after serving 20 years since he was a juvenile during his involvement in the attack.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Friday’s sentencing hearing allows victims and their families to tell the court about what they’ve suffered in the continuing aftermath of the attack.
Erickson and McKinney targeted a classroom of high school students who were sitting in the dark, watching a movie at the end of their senior year. The two entered through separate doors to maximize the number of students they could kill, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that Erickson and McKinney concocted a “victim-hero” plan in which McKinney would either kill himself or be killed by Erickson.
The shootings stopped when Castillo and two other students, Joshua Jones and Brendan Bialy, charged Erickson, whose gun jammed after he fired four times. McKinney was apprehended by a school security guard.
Defense attorneys argued that Erickson was pressured into participating by McKinney, who testified against Erickson after pleading guilty last year. The defense also suggested that Castillo was accidentally shot as he pushed Erickson against a wall.
Despite the mandatory life term for Erickson, prosecutors asked that a report be prepared that recommends the sentence and summarizes the evidence presented at trial. That information could help deter a future governor who might possibly consider clemency for Erickson, according to District Attorney John Kellner.
After the shooting, McKinney told investigators that he planned the attack for weeks and intended to target classmates who repeatedly mocked him because he was transgender, according to court documents.
At his sentencing hearing last year, McKinney said he did not want leniency and urged anyone planning a school shooting to get help. But he also suggested the shooting was Erickson’s idea.
