On a bright afternoon in Boulder, Colorado, Neven Stanisic, a 23-year-old man of Serbian descent, was going about his work as a repairman. On March 22, 2021, he was at the King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive, having just completed a job fixing a coffee machine inside the grocery store. He returned to his vehicle in the parking lot, likely thinking about the rest of his day, when the ordinary peace was shattered by the sound of gunfire.
It was in the driver's seat of his car that Stanisic became one of the first victims in a senseless act of violence that would claim ten lives.
The Stanisic family had fled the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, seeking a safer and better life in the United States. They had come to Colorado to escape violence, only to have their son taken from them in a hail of bullets. Those who knew Neven described him as a man of faith, a hard worker who was shy and respectful. He was remembered as a loving and great person by the reverend of his family's church, Saint John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox Church in Lakewood, where a memorial was later set up in his honor.
The gunman, identified as 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, was taken into custody at the scene after being shot in the leg by police. In the days and weeks that followed, he was charged with ten counts of first-degree murder and numerous other felonies, including attempted murder for the dozens of other people he endangered. The legal proceedings that ensued were lengthy, marked by evaluations of the suspect's mental competency to stand trial.
Ultimately, Alissa was found competent, and his trial commenced. The jury rejected his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. On September 23, 2024, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was found guilty on all 55 felony counts against him, including the ten counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to ten consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 1,334 years for the other offenses, ensuring he would spend the rest of his life in prison for the devastating attack that cut short the lives of Neven Stanisic and nine others.
