BRIGHTON, Colo. — A Colorado man who fatally shot a 13-year-old boy in a road rage incident nearly five years ago was found guilty on Wednesday of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Jeremy Webster, 27, was convicted of 12 counts, including first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder and assault, KUSA-TV reported. The jury deliberated for three hours before issuing the guilty verdicts, according to KMGH-TV.
After the verdict, Judge Priscilla Loew sentenced Webster to the maximum sentence for each count, according to the television station.
Webster received the life sentence for the murder charge and 48 years for each of the six counts, which will run concurrently to each other. He received 32 years for another four counts, which will be served concurrently, and 16 years for a final count also to be served concurrently, KUSA reported.
Webster was convicted in the June 14, 2018, shooting that left Vaughn Bigelow Jr. dead and wounded his mother, Meghan Bigelow, and her 8-year-old son, according to KMGH.
A 12-year-old was not injured, but a man who was in his truck in the parking lot waiting for his daughter’s dentist appointment to finish was also wounded, KUSA reported.
Webster pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, according to the television station.
It was the second trial in the case. It originally began on July 7, 2021, but a judge declared a mistrial during jury selection after a protection witness was unable to travel to Colorado and testify, KMGH reported.
The second trial began on April 12, 2023, according to the television station.
Meghan Bigelow testified that she was driving her three sons to the dentist’s office and attempted to move into another lane to allow an emergency vehicle to pass, KDVR-TV reported. Webster allegedly became angry that she had cut him off, according to the television station.
Meghan Bigelow alleged that Webster screamed obscenities at her and followed her to the dentist’s parking lot, KDVR reported.
According to prosecutors, Webster pulled out his gun in the parking lot and shot the woman and two of her children, according to the television station.
“As Vaughn Bigelow Jr. had his hands up cowering in fear Mr. Webster placed firmly the barrel of that gun to the child’s head and pulled the trigger ending his life,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Prince said on Wednesday. “It doesn’t get more intentional and deliberate than that.”
After the shooting, Webster allegedly fled the scene in a black Toyota Corolla, according to KMGH. He then stopped at a nearby Home Depot to pick up tools before returning to Westminster to help remodel a house. He was arrested three hours later.
“He had a mood disorder that began at a very young age and it progressed, as it does,” Webster’s attorney, Rachel Oliver, told the court, according to KUSA. “His own mind was betraying him for his entire life.”
But prosecutors said Webster was sane and acted deliberately.
Meghan Bigelow said the verdict gave her some closure but the pain will not go away.
“Because of what the verdicts were today, this part can be closed. But that doesn’t mean we’ll ever get Bubba back,” she told the court. “All his friends are graduating high school right now and going to college. And every time I get one of those graduation cards, I burst into tears.”