WESTMINSTER – A 23-year old Colorado Springs man accused of opening fire on a mother and her three children in what prosecutors said began with a fit of road rage pleaded not guilty in an Adams County court Monday morning.
The defense asked the judge to delay the arraignment again and set a new hearing to address motions related to the mental health of their client. The judge denied that, and the court entered a not guilty plea for Jeremy Webster. The judge set a trial to start on June 12th and is expected to last at least 10-days.
Webster is charged with murder, attempted murder and assault for the violent June 14th, altercation that left 13-year-old Vaughn Bigelow Jr. dead. The boy’s mother, Meghan Bigelow, and brother, Asa Bigelow, were seriously wounded in the attack.
A third child, Cooper Bigelow, was uninjured and received credit from investigators for helping law enforcement identify the suspect and his vehicle by unlocking his mom’s phone and showing them a photo she had taken moments before the shooting. Another man, identified as John Gale, was shot while he was sitting in the car with his daughter.
During testimony at a preliminary hearing last October, detectives recounted an interview with Cooper Bigelow, who told police that Webster became angry at Meghan Bigelow when she tried to pull over for an emergency vehicle on Sheridan. Webster is accused of following the Bigelow family’s car into the parking lot of the Cedarwood Square Office Complex at 5150 W. 80th Ave. and opening fire on the family. He is accused of shooting Vaughn Bigelow Jr. “execution-style” and then driving away in his Toyota Corolla. Prosecutors said Webster went to a Home Depot 30 minutes after the shooting to buy a saw and went back to work for a brief period of time.
Webster was taken into custody on Interstate 25 near Castle Rock the afternoon of the shooting and was apparently headed back home to Colorado Springs.
According to an arrest affidavit released this summer, Webster admitted to the attack and said he had mental health issues and had changed his medication that day. A psychiatrist later confirmed to investigators that Webster was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and had been prescribed an anti-depressant and anti-psychotic.
