Trials
A Denver judge sentenced Julian Huggins to 35 years in prison for the 2024 shooting death of Killian Flynn outside the Denver Rescue Mission.
9NEWS and The Denver Gazette reported that on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, Huggins was sentenced after pleading guilty earlier in the week to second-degree murder in the July 1, 2024 killing of Flynn, 31, outside the shelter's 48th Avenue Center.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
A guilty plea is a conviction by admission, so Friday's hearing was about the length of the sentence. Huggins was first held on suspicion of first-degree murder, Denver7 reported in 2024, and the plea was to the lesser count of second-degree murder. The 35-year term is the court's judgment.
District Judge Demetria Trujillo sentenced Julian Huggins to 35 years in prison on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, the Denver District Attorney's Office said in a release reported by 9NEWS and The Denver Gazette. Huggins pleaded guilty earlier in the week to second-degree murder in the death of Killian Flynn, 31. The Gazette reported that the case was prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney Kate Horton and Associate Deputy District Attorney Makayla Samour.
According to the release, Huggins shot and killed Flynn on July 1, 2024, outside the Denver Rescue Mission shelter near 48th Avenue and Dahlia Street, 9NEWS reported. The Gazette placed the shelter in the 4600 block of East 48th Avenue. Denver police said the two men were arguing before the shooting. Witnesses said Huggins then went to the shelter's front porch and tried to go inside, and stayed there until officers took him into custody, 9NEWS reported. One witness identified both men as residents of the shelter.
Denver7 reported at the time that officers arrested Huggins, then 40, at the shelter shortly after they arrived around 8 p.m., and that he was held on suspicion of first-degree murder. His plea this week was to second-degree murder.
"Killian Flynn would be alive today were it not for Julian Huggins' senseless actions," District Attorney John Walsh said in the release. "Though nothing can bring Killian back, it is my hope that the significant sentence imposed today will give those who knew and loved him a measure of comfort and a sense that justice has been served." Walsh also thanked Denver police homicide Detective Daniel Tregembo, 9NEWS reported. After the shooting, the Denver Rescue Mission said it was "deeply saddened by the tragic events outside of the 48th Avenue Center." All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Huggins gave up that presumption on this count when he pleaded guilty, and the sentence is the court's judgment.
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