Prosecutors won’t charge the three Thornton police officers who shot and killed two people after a car chase into Lakewood last year — not because their use of force was justified, but because the district attorney did not believe a jury would convict them.
On April 30, 2024, Thornton police officers Tim Fuss, Marc Faivre and Scott Schilb fatally shot Joby Vigil and Jasmine Castro.
“Because of our ethical obligations requiring a reasonable likelihood of conviction, no criminal charges can or should be filed against the officers,” First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King wrote in her decision letter.
The letter stated King found only Schilb acted reasonably in his use of force and that she questioned Fuss and Faivre’s decision-making in the shooting.
In a July 2024 interview with The Denver Post, Vigil’s parents said they initially didn’t want their son’s name made public but changed their minds after seeing body-camera video that showed Vigil never was able to put his hands up.
Frank Vigil and his wife, Deanine, said they wanted all the police officers involved to lose their jobs and never work in law enforcement again.
As of Thursday, all three officers remained employed by the Thornton Police Department. An internal administrative review began this week after the decision letter was released by the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The officers, who were driving unmarked vehicles on April 30, 2024, started following Castro’s car, in which Vigil was riding, when they noticed it didn’t have a license plate and thought it may have been stolen, according to the decision letter.
They tried to pull Castro over but turned off their emergency lights and continued to follow her when she refused to stop.
Eventually, Castro parked at a strip mall in Lakewood and shot twice at the two unmarked police cars, according to the decision letter. She then got back into the car and took off, driving at speeds close to 100 mph.
Police technology in the area recorded both gunshots, which were fired less than a second apart at about 2:59 a.m. Because of the attempted traffic stop in Thornton, the officers told investigators they believed Castro knew they were police when she shot at them.
The officers crashed into Castro’s car and ended the chase in a Lakewood residential area near Second Avenue and Garrison Street.
When Castro climbed out of the driver’s side window, Fuss saw “something black” in her hand and believed she was going to flee, the decision letter stated. He gave her one warning to put her hands up and, two seconds later, he shot at her six times with his handgun “until she was down on the ground and no longer a threat.”
Schilb also shot at Castro eight times with his rifle when she was already on the ground, according to the letter. He said he saw a gun near her waistband and thought she would still be able to use it.
Neither Fuss nor Schilb verbalized that they saw a gun.
Since Castro, when climbing out of the car, landed on her hands and knees and turned away from Fuss as she stood, King said Fuss’ perception that she “intended imminent serious bodily injury or death” to the group “was unreasonable.”
She said Schilb, who was on the other side of Castro, acted reasonably, and a reasonable person confronted with the same facts and circumstances would also believe deadly force was necessary to subdue the suspect.
“Of the three officers who engaged with the (car) that night, Officer Faivre’s decision-making is the most problematic,” King wrote in the decision letter.
Faivre never saw the gun or Castro’s and Vigil’s hands, she wrote. Instead, he shot at them 11 times as they moved away from him and climbed out the driver’s side window of the crashed car.
Faivre is the only officer who shot at Vigil, striking him in the head, back and legs, according to the decision letter. All three officers shot at Castro, who was hit in her legs, wrist, arms, shoulder, chest, abdomen and back.
“Unlike the other officers, Officer Faivre had no additional information after the crash, other than the occupants franticly reaching around the car, to justify his own use of deadly force,” King wrote. “Faivre did not see or know about a black object, did not see a firearm and could not articulate where he was shooting.”
King said she believed Faivre’s use of force was not reasonable. Still, she didn’t think a jury would convict any officer as they could all claim self-defense.
Thornton Police Department officials said the three officers will remain on administrative duty while the internal review progresses.
“As is standard protocol, the department has now initiated an internal administrative review to assess whether the officers’ actions were in compliance with Thornton Police Department policies and procedures,” the police department said in an emailed statement to The Post. “… We recognize the emotional toll this incident has had on all those involved, and we are dedicated to doing everything we can to help heal and move forward together as a community.”
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