An Englewood teenager was sentenced Dec. 7 for killing a Denver chef. Louis Lara-Macias, 17 was sentenced to 21 years in the Department of Corrections suspended upon completion of 7 years in the Department of Corrections’ youth offender system.
Arapahoe District Court Judge Andrew Baum sentenced Lara-Macias as part of a plea agreement that saw Lara-Macias plead guilty to Murder 2 on Oct. 19, 2017, for the death of Nicholas Lewis, who was 33. All other charges against Lara-Macias were dropped.
On Oct. 1, 2016, Englewood Police officers responding to reports of shots fired found Lewis lying on his back in the sidewalk in the 3000 block of South Acoma Street. It appeared he had been shot in the chest. Lewis was pronounced dead at Swedish Medical Center; he had been shot three times and died from a wound to his heart.
Investigators found shell casings at the scene. Witnesses described a vehicle that had left the area, and various security cameras in the area had captured video.
The vehicle was traced to one stolen out of Denver on Sept. 28, 2016; Westminster police reported it was recovered during investigation of an Oct. 3, 2016, shooting. Lara-Macias and another juvenile were arrested in that case.
Englewood detectives were able to tie both of them to Lewis’ death and they were charged with murder.
Lewis’ 12-year-old sister was among several family members who came from out-of-state to give impact statements during sentencing.
“This was on purpose and totally planned out,” she said of the act that took the life of her brother. “Nick is gone forever and will never be coming back … He did not deserve this – none of us did.”
Their mother also spoke.
“I can’t help but wonder the sheer horror Nick must have felt being approached by a masked gunman,” she said. “No amount of therapy will ever erase this nightmare.”
Lewis was a chef at Blackbird Public House in Denver. He had been walking home from a convenience store when Lara-Macias targeted him at random as part of a crime spree.
Judge Baum recognized the family in imposing the sentence.
“No action that I can take will reduce the pain that you caused them,” he told Lara-Macias. “This was an absolutely preventable crime. Mr Lewis didn’t have to die.”