In the late summer evening of August 23, 2020, a tragedy unfolded in a Walmart parking lot in Lakewood, Colorado, that claimed the lives of two brothers. Damian Michael Wikoff, an 18-year-old male, and his 17-year-old brother, Dillon Wikoff, were fatally shot around 8:00 p.m. The brothers had arranged to meet individuals in the parking lot to sell a 'ghost gun' they had assembled from an online kit and to trade for another firearm. Relatives mentioned that the brothers worked nearby and would often meet in that parking lot during their breaks.
What was intended to be a transaction turned into a deadly robbery. Instead of a sale, the brothers were met by a group of juveniles who had planned to rob them. During the course of the robbery, both Damian and his younger brother were shot. Emergency services transported the teens to local hospitals, but both ultimately succumbed to their injuries, leaving their family and community devastated. The Lakewood Police Department immediately launched an investigation, stating that the attack was not a random act.
The investigation led to the arrest of four juvenile suspects. Two of the teens, Michael Anthony Mendoza, who was 17 at the time, and Marqueil Deandre Banks, then 16, were charged as adults. The investigation revealed that Mendoza had recruited the group to commit the robbery, and Banks was the one who shot and killed both Damian and Dillon. Banks was subsequently convicted by a jury on two counts of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
Michael Anthony Mendoza pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and manslaughter. His plea resulted in a sentence of 20.5 years in the Department of Corrections. The two other juveniles involved, who were both 15 at the time of the incident, also faced legal consequences. One pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery and received two years of juvenile intensive supervised probation. The fourth teen pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to four years in the Department of Youth Services.
