Community and Family Outraged by Jurinsky’s “Justified Murder” Claim in Police Killing of Kilyn E. Lewis

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Contact: [email protected] or MiDian Shofner (303) 525-6461

Aurora, CO – The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, and the family of Kilyn E. Lewis are calling out Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky for her dangerous and offensive use of the phrase “justified murder” to describe the police shooting of Kilyn Lewis, who was unarmed and shot by then Aurora SWAT Officer Michael Dieck back on 05/23/2024.

This oxymoron in a legal context was most recently used by Jurinsky during the 05.19.2025 Aurora City Council meeting (at about minute 46). On May 6th, during a live appearance on The Brother Jeff Show, Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, on a national platform, clearly stated that Kilyn Lewis was murdered (see the full show episode here). That statement was not coerced, confused, or taken out of context. It was a moment of honesty, however unintended, where the truth found its way to the surface, as truth always does, even through the mouths of those who routinely manipulate it.

Now, rather than standing on that truth or owning the consequences of her words, Jurinsky is attempting to walk them back. She claims she repeatedly used the term “killed” during her conversation with brother jeff Fard, which video footage shows is false. She further insists she was advised that the term “justified murder” is legally accurate—a position no legitimate legal authority would affirm.

“Justified murder is not a legal term,” said MiDian Shofner, CEO of The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership and a lead advocate for the Lewis family. “It’s not a legal designation. It’s not a moral position. It’s a grotesque contradiction meant to shield power and avoid accountability. Her use of it is not only intellectually dishonest, it’s violent. In U.S. law, the term “murder” specifically refers to unlawful killing with malice aforethought. If a killing is justified, it is not legally classified as murder.”

The community is not confused. The death certificate for Kilyn Lewis reads ‘homicide’, not murder, because murder is a charge that must be determined in a court of law, not by elected officials with political motives and faulty legal counsel. Kilyn will never be afforded due process due to the egregious and unjustified actions of Officer Michael Dieck, who is still a member of the Aurora Police.

LaRonda Jones, Kilyn’s mother, responded:
“I want the world to hear me clearly: my son was murdered. And everyone who’s been watching this knows it. Councilwoman Jurinsky spoke the truth when she called it murder. What’s painful is watching her now try to rewrite that truth to protect herself instead of protecting the community she claims to serve.”

Instead of standing with integrity, she has chosen to hide behind a flimsy legal rationale, claiming she was advised that the term “justified murder” is both appropriate and correct. “Justified murder” is not a real thing. It is not a legal term. It is a cowardly contradiction meant to placate both truth and power.

The people of Aurora and the broader public deserve better. Those considering doing business in this city should ask serious questions about what it means when a member of its governing body is willing to frame the state-sanctioned killing of one of its citizens as “justified murder.” What does that say about the culture of leadership here? And what kind of city is being built on top of that ideology?

We will not allow this kind of rhetoric to become normalized. We will not allow grief to be politicized. And we will not allow the murder of Kilyn E. Lewis to be reframed by those who failed him in life and continue to fail him in death.

He was murdered. That is the truth.

We are still waiting for justice.

For the Culture,