A single mother who overcame cancer four times was allegedly shot dead by a man who claimed he accidentally fired his gun and didn’t see anyone home.
Jennifer James, 49, was inside her home in the Colorado town of Berthoud when a bullet pierced through her window and struck her in the upper arm and into her chest.
James managed to call 911 and told the dispatcher she had been shot, then collapsed and stopped breathing, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KDVR.
First responders performed life-saving measures on James, but she died of her injuries at the scene on the night of April 28.
She had been diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29 and spent two decades battling it.
‘Jennifer was an incredible human being and was loved by so many people. She was bravely battling cancer yet again at the time that she was taken from us,’ states a GoFundMe page for her four children, who have been left parentless.
She died ‘from a senseless act of violence from a gun shot’, it states, and noted that ‘somebody has been arrested and has confessed’.
Investigators reviewed CCTV footage and spotted a Nissan Rogue SUV parked in front of James’ home on 1st Street near Mountain Avenue around 11.15pm. The vehicle’s headlights shut off moments later and the driver took off.
A vehicle matching that description stopped at a Conoco gas station a few blocks away.
Two days later, the Nissan crashed on Interstate 25 near Greenwood Village and the driver was identified as Ebenezer Worku, 20. Police body camera footage showed he had a handgun holster beneath his jacket.
Worku admitted that he had a Glock 22 handgun that he used for target shooting and denied knowing anything about James’ killing.
Told that someone died, Worku appeared emotional, according to the affidavit.
He then admitted that he was not familiar with the gun that he had received as a birthday gift, and accidentally discharged it while in the middle of the road. He said he tried to clear the chamber and set off another bullet not know that a round was present, and that he thought it hit a wall.
Worku said the curtains of James’ home were mostly closed and he did not think the bullet struck anyone, and that he drove away frightened.
He has been charged with first-degree murder – extreme indifference, and is being held at Larimer County Jail on a $1.25million cash bond. Worku is scheduled to appear in court on June 6.
‘Jennifer was the epitome of sunshine,’ stated the GoFundMe page.
‘Anyone who knew her thought of her as the nicest person they had known.’
The fundraiser had received more than $55,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
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