In the early afternoon of June 1, 2020, a male named John Gerard Cyprian, 41, was walking with a female companion near the intersection of East 16th Avenue and North Akron Street in Aurora, Colorado. A man driving an SUV stopped near the pair, exited the vehicle, and charged at Cyprian with a gun. The man, later identified as 45-year-old Steven Young, shot Cyprian once in the abdomen.
After the shooting, Young fled the scene with the woman who was with Cyprian.
John Cyprian, who was known by the nickname 'Black,' crawled to a nearby field where he succumbed to his injuries. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed that the single gunshot wound had ruptured his small intestine and severed a major artery, causing him to bleed to death. At the time of his death, Cyprian was homeless but was actively trying to find an apartment.
Initially, Aurora Police did not have a suspect in custody and asked the public for information. An investigation, aided by a tip from a reliable informant, led police to identify Steven Young as the shooter. In April 2021, an Adams County jury convicted Young of first-degree murder for the death of John Cyprian. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Young was also a suspect in the killing of the woman who was with Cyprian, Charley Lewis, which occurred about a week after Cyprian's murder.
