WARNING: The content in the following article discusses topics of serious bodily injury. Viewer discretion is advised.
A Colorado murder case has been dismissed after the suspect was found permanently incompetent to stand trial.
Joel Lang was charged with killing Kristy Kerst in a parking lot in Monument last November.
Prosecutors say Lang hit Kerst with his van after a minor fender bender and dragged her hundreds of feet.
Two days later, Lang turned himself into the Colorado Springs Police Department. He was facing the following charges:
- second-degree murder
- vehicular homicide
- duty to report accidents
- leaving the scene of an accident involving death
Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael J. Allen released the following statement:
"The Colorado legislature continues to value dangerous offenders over victims by creating safe harbors designed to protect defendants, and their statutory schemes have been signed into law by Governor Polis. Coloradans will continue to suffer until our legislature and governor put a real priority on public safety.
At issue today is a dangerously tangled statutory web that requires courts to dismiss cases after finding a defendant to be incompetent to proceed, and that their competency could not be restored. That requirement applies regardless of the level of offense. People charged with murder, no matter how depraved and evil the crime, can walk free while victims and their family members are left unprotected by the laws enacted in this state. That is justice denied. Coloradans deserve much more from the legislature and governor.
The competency statutes that created the result in Lang’s case have been amended 11 times since 2019. That is excessive meddling by a legislature intent on weakening our public safety statutes. It means this defendant, and any others who fall into the same category, will walk free with no accountability. Free to hurt, maim, or kill again.”
Kristy Kerst, a 47-year-old mother and grandmother, was violently killed while visiting her family in Monument - run over and dragged to death by Joel Lang in a McDonald’s parking lot. She deserves for her killer to be held accountable. Kristy was not alone on the day of her death. Her daughter and two young grandchildren witnessed the horror in that parking lot, too.
That family will live with the unseen scars of that day, and they will know the government chose to protect their loved one’s killer over their safety and well-being – and that of our community as a whole."
Background Information
News5 acquired the affidavit that reveals a little more about the course of events.
At around 11:45 a.m. on November 4, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office received a call about a hit-and-run in the parking lot of a McDonald's in Monument.
The Monument Police Department responded and found Kerst severely injured on the scene where she later died.
The affidavit reveals that Kerst and her daughter were waiting in the McDonald's drive-thru pick-up spot when Lang allegedly hit their vehicle after he received his order in a parking spot right next to Kerst and her daughter as he was trying to pull out.
After Lang allegedly hit Kerst's vehicle, Kerst and her daughter got out of the vehicle to talk to Lang about the accident.
The affidavit states that at this point, Lang allegedly tried to flee, hitting Kerst's daughter and running Kerst over, trapping her under the vehicle. Kerst was trapped under Lang's vehicle for what is estimated to be 300 feet before she fell out from under the vehicle.
The Monument Police Department requested assistance from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, who responded and took over the investigation.
In an interview with Detective Michael Callis, Lang allegedly told Callis he knew he had hit Kerst, knew that she was being dragged under the van and that would kill her.
Lang allegedly told the detective that he didn't look back because he knew he hit Kerst and just wanted to get out of the area.
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