In the early morning hours of May 3, 2017, Kashmier Lujan-Taylor, a 15-year-old female, was tragically killed in her Denver, Colorado home. She was asleep in the living room when multiple gunshots were fired into her family's apartment in the 4200 block of West Dakota Avenue at approximately 3:15 a.m. Kashmier was struck by the gunfire and fatally wounded just a week before she would have celebrated her sixteenth birthday.
At the time of the shooting, there were two adults and four children, including Kashmier, inside the residence.
The Denver Police Department responded to the scene and found numerous evidence markers on the street outside the apartment, indicating the significant number of shots fired. Investigators stated that the hail of bullets pierced the front window, door, and a wall of the home. Based on the number of rounds fired at the residence, police believed the attack was not random and that the family was intentionally targeted. However, a specific motive for the shooting was not immediately determined or publicly released.
Despite the targeted nature of the crime, the investigation into Kashmier Lujan-Taylor's death has not led to any arrests. In the days following the shooting, police had not identified any suspects. Years later, her case was featured among other unsolved homicides in the Denver area, with law enforcement and her family appealing to the public for any information that might lead to a breakthrough in the investigation. A reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for her death. As of the most recent available information, no suspects have been publicly named, and the case remains an unsolved homicide.
