Judge seals information about juvenile suspects in homicide investigation

Little is known about the two juvenile suspects taken into custody in the ongoing investigation into the death of a local 14-year-old following an altercation at Second Street Park in Gypsum on April 24.

Jackson Davis, a freshman at Eagle Valley High School, died from injuries sustained during the altercation, which involved multiple teens and occurred just before 10 p.m. The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Davis’ death as a homicide. 

Authorities took one suspect into custody on the night of the altercation. They announced the arrest of another suspect on May 4, but information about the arrests and charges is under seal following an April 30 order by 5th Judicial District Judge Rachel J. Olguin-Fresquez. 

---

---

Whether either suspect will be charged as an adult also remains unclear. For juveniles charged with crimes, Colorado law stipulates that the public is allowed access to information identifying the suspect, the arresting agency, and the date, time, and place of the arrest. A provision also states that filed charges can be obtained for juvenile suspects who face homicide charges with a deadly weapon. 

But Colorado law also gives judges latitude to hide information about court cases from the public. Olguin-Fresquez’ order, issued six days after the first arrest, keeps all records related to the case under seal for 21 days. 

---

---

In citing the ongoing investigation, Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek declined to say whether more arrests were forthcoming or offer any information about what led to the altercation in the park. District Attorney Heidi McCollum, citing the judge’s suppression order, declined to respond to questions about the two suspects and the charges they face. 

One clear thing is that both suspects are being detained outside of Eagle County. Colorado has strict laws about detaining minors, and the 5th Judicial District — which encompasses Clear Creek, Lake, Summit, and Eagle counties — doesn’t have a juvenile detention facility. 

School district’s response

In the wake of the incident, the school district is working to maintain safety and security.  

As students and staff returned from the district’s spring break on April 29, staff meetings were held at both Red Canyon and Eagle Valley high schools. The tone and conversation at each school varied. 

At Red Canyon, the conversation surrounded school culture, said Superintendent Philip Qualman. 

“As an alternative campus, they build their program around culture and students feeling like they have a sense of belonging and voice in what happens at their campus. So they started the day by leaning into that culture, talking about how kids were feeling, what supports they needed, how they’d like to see their school progress and heal from the incident,” he added. 

The conversation at Eagle Valley was “very different,” as the school community had lost a student, he said. 

“They were talking to staff members about how to discuss that in their classrooms, what supports were available to them as educators, what resources were available to their students, and addressing questions that they have,” he said. 

Currently, these resources include existing school counselors and Your Hope Center clinicians as well as additional counselors that have been dispatched to provide more support in the schools. They are also sharing information for support and resources available outside of the schools. 

Qualman, at the Eagle County Schools Board of Education Meeting on Wednesday, said authorities are investigating the role that cell phones or social media played in the alleged murder.

“I don’t know what they’re going to find there, but I think that there will be connections,” he said. “I know for certain that cell phones and social media have played an enormous role in the aftermath of what happened in the last two weeks, including sharing a disturbing video of his murder, spreading rumors, and increasing fear and anxiety in our community.”

On April 29, when students returned to school, a false allegation of another stabbing circulated. A juvenile has since been criminally charged for false reporting after an investigation by the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office found no credible information or evidence that the attack occurred. 

On April 30, the district canceled a girls soccer game between Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley, with Qualman, at the board meeting on Tuesday, saying that cancellation was based on the false report from April 29. 

In a call with the Vail Daily on Tuesday, he said decisions to cancel games are made on a case-by-case basis, using “whatever information we’re given from law enforcement or any kind of tips or Safe-2-Tell reports.”

“We take that information seriously and, with our due diligence, investigate and make the determination with the information that we have on hand,” he added. 

As rumors continue to circulate in schools and on social media, the district is working to create a district-wide cell phone policy. Currently, all schools have their own policies around cell phones.

“Parents, I’m asking you, we need your support on this one,” Qualman said of the policy on Wednesday. “Even though it means that you won’t have instant communication with your child during the school day, we’ve gone thousands of years without instant communication with our kids, and I think we’ll be OK.”

A draft of the policy will be reviewed by principals in the coming weeks before heading to the Board of Education for approval. 

The district currently monitors student internet use within its buildings through a system called GoGuardian, which allows it to monitor search content and web pages accessed by students. However, Qualman referred to this as a “never-ending cat and mouse game.”

He also noted that while he respects and understands the desire of staff and community members to know more details, “when there are minors involved, we have statutory obligations to keep that information private to those students and their families.”

“We share what we’re able to share, and when we can’t share more — either because we don’t have it or we’re not permitted to share it — that’s just a situation that folks have to learn to be OK with,” he added.

The district is cooperating with both the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office in the homicide investigation.

Security upgrades had already been in the works

Eagle County School District has recently put efforts and resources toward improving school safety and security. 

In the fall of 2023, the district contracted a third party to conduct a safety, security, and emergency preparedness assessment to review its policies, procedures, and facilities as well as evaluate the overall safety of all its schools. As a result of this report’s recommendations, it hired Tad Degen, a former school resource officer and retired law enforcement officer in Eagle County, to fill its newly-created director of safety and security role. 

With the bond passed in November 2023, he has been given $5 million to make safety and security upgrades throughout the district. 

Considering the safety and security of schools includes looking not only at things like cameras, infrastructure, and cell phone or social media use, but also at what’s happening with school culture, Qualman acknowledged. 

“It’s about, how does it feel to be in school? Are we connecting with kids? Do they feel like they belong? Are they engaged? What are we doing to make sure that we’re harnessing all the support that we have in this community in and out of our schools?” he asked. 

The next step in healing from this tragedy includes making sure schools are safe and secure as well as coming together to heal as a community, he added.