In the summer evening of July 12, 2022, 17-year-old Josiah 'JoJo' Gonzales was at Ken Mitchell Park in Brighton, Colorado, sharing pizza with a friend in the pavilion. Another teenager, Jonah Graham, also 17, approached Gonzales with his own friend. Graham and Gonzales were acquainted, and upon seeing him, Graham called out to him. What began as a verbal exchange between the two teenagers quickly and tragically escalated.
Witnesses at the park reported hearing an argument between
Gonzales and the suspect before the sound of gunshots rang out. Graham had drawn a handgun and fired three times at Gonzales, inflicting fatal gunshot wounds to his face and neck. Following the shooting, Graham fled the park. Brighton police responded to a call about an unresponsive person who had been shot and swiftly upgraded their investigation from a death investigation to a homicide.
Two days later, on July 14, police arrested Jonah Graham at his home in Commerce City. He was initially held at a juvenile detention center in Brighton. The Adams County District Attorney's Office later charged Graham as an adult. On November 16, 2023, Jonah Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in the Department of Corrections for the killing of Josiah Gonzales.
