Robert Glenn Maples, 50, a Black male, was shot on April 22, 2018, outside the Value Inn at 6875 Space Village Drive, just south of Colorado Springs city limits, and died three days later of his wounds. Deputies were alerted after a hotel employee reported a man with a gun; Maples was found in the parking lot and later identified by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Obituary records and later court findings confirm his death occurred on April 25, 2018, from a gunshot wound.
Security footage and witness testimony presented at trial described Maples running from a motel room shortly after midnight, warning staff that the man inside had a gun, as the shooter followed moments later. In the confrontation that spilled into the lot, witnesses recounted that Maples pleaded for mercy before he was shot in the head; a medical examiner testified he died three days after the shooting.
Investigators quickly focused on 38-year-old David Allen Rhoads, who was taken into custody near the scene and booked into the El Paso County jail. He was initially charged with first-degree murder, along with identity theft and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. A jury later convicted Rhoads of first-degree murder, and the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction on February 23, 2023.
Public reporting has not established a definitive motive. During pretrial proceedings, defense attorneys suggested alternative theories tied to other prosecutions in which Maples had cooperated, but the court limited those arguments; contemporaneous summaries noted that authorities had not released motive details. Memorial and homicide-tracking entries corroborate the basic timeline and circumstances of the killing.
