Police have arrested a man accused of assaulting two random teenagers and then beating a 62-year-old man to death in the middle of a Denver street, according to KTLA sister station KDVR.
The attacks happened near Curtis and 25th streets at about 4 a.m. on Friday, the Denver Police Department reported.
When officers arrived, they found two teens who had been attacked in what appeared to be a random incident. One of the victims had “significant facial injuries,” according to police.
A witness told officers the attacker had run to the 2400 block of Curtis Street after the assault.
The officers said they saw a person lying in the middle of the street and a man was “continually striking the victim in the chest with force.”
The suspect was later identified as 28-year-old Dejuan Stamps, KDVR reported.
The victim, later identified as James Farmer, Jr., died at the scene. An autopsy confirmed he died from blunt force injuries.
Farmer was homeless and had been spending every night in his black Saab.
“People who know what’s right, do what’s right,” a shelter official said. “And he was one of those people who did it. He stepped up to help. And unfortunately, it cost him his life. But he was a good man”
Stamps was also homeless, but had been banned by the homeless shelter last month, officials said.
After the attacks, Stamps was transported to the hospital for evaluation and was placed on an investigative hold for first degree murder.
