Colleen O’Connor enjoyed a good book and a long walk outside. Family and friends savored deep conversations with her about politics, social issues and knitting.
Her killer, Jesus Carreno, also enjoyed reading, being outside, discussing big ideas and spending time with his family.
Their paths crossed on the evening of Aug. 31 when Carreno struck O’Connor with his car at the intersection of East First Avenue and Downing Street. O’Connor, a Denver Post reporter, was finishing her daily walk, and Carreno, who was drunk, was on his way home from a Rockies baseball game.
On Friday, the two tearful families came together in a courtroom at the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse to share the burden of a tragedy and to watch as Denver District Court Judge Sheila A. Rappaport sentenced Carreno, 24, to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
“I want the defendant to know I harbor no bitterness toward him,” said Carol O’Casey, the late reporter’s sister. “I want him to know I forgive him. I want him to know that I will pray that he will spend the rest of his life making the world a better place — something Colleen excelled at.”
Both families sobbed as one side offered forgiveness and the other accepted responsibility for making a horrible decision.
“I’m not here to convince anyone that I’m innocent or didn’t have other options or that I’m not responsible for the death of Colleen O’Connor,” Carreno said.
Carreno in January had pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide-reckless driving and driving under the influence. His blood-alcohol content was .206, four times the legal limit, said Deputy District Attorney Shannon O’Connor. Six years is the maximum sentence, but Carreno will be eligible for probation in 126 days.
Rappaport will decide whether Carreno has earned it during a July 3 hearing. If she grants probation, she probably would order it for the remainder of his six-year sentence.
“I want you to be under the gun for a long time for what you did,” she said.
In reports about the collision, police said O’Connor was in a crosswalk but did not have the pedestrian light.
During the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Shannon O’Connor said that under the eyes of the law, Carreno was solely responsible.
“At the end of the day, we all assume the drivers are alert and sober,” she said.
After the collision, Carreno drove nearly a half-mile before stopping. When police arrived, he was distraught and lying in the median, according to court testimony.
Carreno was taken to a hospital where he was interviewed by police. Throughout the interview, he asked about “the lady” that he had hit. As the interview finished, an officer told him O’Connor had died. Carreno cried uncontrollably and had difficulty breathing, Rappaport said.
“You kept asking, ‘How could I have done this?’ ” the judge said, recalling the video she had seen.
Carreno’s parents and siblings sat on a courtroom bench, leaning on each other and crying.
O’Connor joined The Post in 2004, and her reporting and writing conveyed compassion and caring toward those she covered. She wrote about everything from Syrian refugees to gay marriage to mental health issues.
Dana Coffield, a Post editor who worked with O’Connor for 13 years, said the reporter brought calm to a “high anxiety” newsroom.
“She served intensively as a sort of conscience for our newsroom,” Coffield said. “That’s acutely missed.”
O’Casey of Bend, Ore., described how painful the loss had been for her and the rest of the family, especially their elderly mother. Their mother has lost her passion for life since her daughter’s death and now rarely gets out of bed, O’Casey said.
“I believe, your honor, the death toll on that fatal night is actually two,” she said.
When it was his turn to speak, Carreno said the death toll should be three because a part of him died that night, too.
“It’s hard to live with my head held high and act normal without the part of me that died with Colleen,” he said.
Carreno said he had read her writing and had read stories written about her.
“I’m a very spiritual person,” he said. “I’ve apologized. I’ve met her in my dreams. I’ve screamed from a mountaintop and I’ve spoken to her.”
Elizabeth O’Casey, O’Connor’s niece, submitted a video statement in which she spoke her nickname for her aunt — “Joy.”
“I am crushed by the absence I feel without her,” she said.
Under different circumstances, her family would have been friends with Carreno, she said. But now, Carreno needed to be punished for taking her life and she hoped that he had learned from his mistake.
“Forgiveness does not mean freedom,” Elizabeth O’Casey said.
After the hearing, Marjorie Allison, one of O’Connor’s friends, said Carreno’s friends and colleagues shared a responsibility to stop him from driving. At that level of intoxication, others should have noticed, she said.
“No one said to Jesus, ‘Hey, I’ll call Uber for you.’ Or ‘I’ll drive you home and take Uber back here.’ Or ‘I’ll wait with you until your brother comes to pick you up,’ ” Allison said. “No one did that. And because no one did that, Jesus made his very wrong and inebriated decision to drive.”
