The man accused of killing one and injuring another during a shooting near Palmer Park last year was sentenced to 50 years in prison after accepting a plea deal on Thursday.
Donnell Chess, 23, appeared in court on Thursday morning for an arraignment hearing. Chess was accused of starting a shootout at a parking lot near 2727 Palmer Park Blvd. on May 7, 2023, that killed Ja’lyn Tyre Lagrue and injured a woman.
Chess was arrested a few days after the shooting and was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and more.
At the time of the shooting Chess had three open criminal cases in El Paso County, two misdemeanor criminal mischief cases and a felony cruelty to animals and weapon possession by a previous offender case.
At the time of the shooting Lagrue was out of custody on a $2,000 surety bond, according to court records.
At Thursday's arraignment hearing attorneys on the case announced to the court that a plea agreement had been reached, and Chess would be entering guilty pleas on both open felony cases.
Shortly after Chess pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and a violent crime sentence enhancement. In his second felony case Chess pleaded guilty to both charges.
The plea agreement, which saw Chess accept a total of 50 years in the Department of Corrections across all charges, was not well received by all of the families of the victims.
The mother and father of the woman who was shot during the incident but survived were both outspoken about their disagreement with the plea agreement during their victim impact statements.
"This sentence falls well short," the victim's father said to the court.
"One day (Chess) will be out of prison while my daughter may suffer from this for the rest of her life," the victim's mother said. "He attempted to kill my daughter."
Afterwards, prosecutor Andrew Vaughan explained to the court why the prosecution opted to offer the plea deal. Vaughan stated that a conviction on first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison in the state of Colorado, may have proven difficult due to a lack of evidence of pre-meditation.
Vaughan went on to state that the primary piece of evidence against Chess is a video of the shooting, which clearly depicts Chess discharging his firearm, but does not show evidence of what led to the shooting, which could be needed for a conviction on first-degree murder.
However, Vaughan did note he had spoke with the surviving victim about the plea agreement and that she felt it was "a bit on the low side," regarding the sentence.
Chess' attorney, Tina Tussay, added that Chess himself was shot three times during the altercation, and it was never determined who else was discharging a firearm.
"My client did not feel like he was going to leave the parking lot alive," Tussay said.
Family members of Lagrue also gave victim impact statements to the court, and while they didn't express any disagreement with the plea agreement they did speak at length about the impact that Lagrue's death has had on their family.
"You took my kid's only uncle away from them," Megan Williams, Lagrue's sister, said to the court. "You, Donnell (Chase), should be ashamed of yourself."
Chess declined to give a statement to the court.
Judge Eric Bentley approved the terms of the plea agreement and sentenced Chess to the pre-determined 50 years in the Department of Corrections.
The plea states that Chess will serve 48 years in prison for pleading guilty to the second-degree murder charge which will run concurrent to the 32-year sentence for pleading guilty to first-degree assault. Chess will serve 2 years in prison to run consecutively with the homicide sentence for pleading guilty to the weapon possession by a previous offender charge in his second case.
The two criminal mischief misdemeanors were dismissed as part of the plea.