Ahmed Zainuldeen, a 23-year-old Iraqi refugee, was tragically killed on September 19, 2023, in Arapahoe County, Colorado, less than a year after he and his family had resettled in the United States. They had fled violence and persecution in their home country, seeking safety and a new beginning. Zainuldeen, described as a bright and curious young man, was already working multiple jobs to support his family and had dreams of becoming a pilot or working in the IT field.
He had recently saved up enough money to purchase a 2012 Hyundai Sonata, the very possession that would lead to his untimely death.
In the early morning hours, Zainuldeen was alerted to his car alarm in the parking lot of his apartment complex near South Quebec Street and East Yale Avenue. Upon confronting the individuals attempting to steal his vehicle, he was shot and killed. His brother, Mahmood, came outside to find him lying on the ground. The suspects then fled in Zainuldeen's car, which was later found abandoned in a southeast Aurora neighborhood.
The investigation led to the arrest of three juvenile suspects. Two of the teens, Raydon Collins and Dhaevontae Rogers-Broadus, were charged as adults. The third suspect, a 14-year-old girl at the time of the crime, was prosecuted in juvenile court and was sentenced to two years in the Colorado Division of Youth Services.
Dhaevontae Rogers-Broadus, who was also implicated in a separate fatal shooting that occurred just days after Zainuldeen's murder, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for Zainuldeen's murder, to be served concurrently with a 30-year sentence for the other homicide. Raydon Collins pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to five years in the youth offender system and 13 years in the Department of Corrections. According to an arrest affidavit, Collins told investigators that Rogers-Broadus needed a ride home due to his probation conditions, which led them to look for a car to steal. Collins stated that one of the teens in the back seat fired the shot that killed Zainuldeen as he knocked on the car window.
