A man who fatally shot a family friend on Christmas Day 2019 in Aurora after losing money to him in a game was sentenced to life in prison.
Curtis Davis-Barnes, 38, was sentenced to life without parole in the shooting and killing of his family friend, Aarion Earle Derritt, 39, on Dec. 25, 2019.
After talking with witnesses, police learned that family and friends had gathered at the home for a Christmas party, and several of them went into the basement to play poker and dice. As the night went on, Davis-Barnes lost between $600 and $700 to Derritt. Senior Deputy District Attorney Casey Brown said Derritt tried to give some of the money back to Davis-Barnes, but he was"dissatisfied with Mr. Derritt’s generosity."“Mr. Derritt was the life of the party, and his family was crushed by the unexpected loss of their beloved son, brother, and father,” Brown said."The defendant eliminated any possibility of Mr. Derritt surviving, and he spent the remainder of Mr. Derritt’s money hiding from police.