A woman from Colorado is dead.
Her boyfriend is in custody and
family members say the couple's8
month old baby is in Child Protective
Services after police say a figt
between the couple turned physil
and ended with her death after falling
from a New York City building.
9 News reporter Jennifer Meckel spoke
with family and friends today who are
trying to understand what happed
and they're trying to bring hery
and her baby back home to Color.
Tuesday night in Midtown New York City,
a woman falls to her death from a hotel roof.
Family members identify the vicm
as 20 year old Desiree Anderson,
a young mom from Colorado visiting New
York City with her boyfriend Tyler and
their eight-month old daughter Aaliyah.
When I first found out,
my heart dropped. I was freaking out.
I was just crying and crying. Ad
Destiny Bailey grew up with Des.
They've been friends for years.e
were just out my outside
my house taking pictures.
We just got ready and wanted to
take pictures. Looking cute,
and she's still trying to wrap
her head around what police
have shared happened that night.
New York Police were called to
the Oyo Hotel for an assault.
They learned two people were
fighting and it got physical.
Witnesses say it spilled
out into the hallways.
People were trying to intervene,
help the baby somehow.
It's still not clear.
Desiree ended up on the hotel
roof before falling to her deat.
Police arrested 24 year old Tyler Griffin.
He's now charged with assault,
reckless endangerment and child endangerment.
Usually just when I'm on my phoe
and by myself and when my kids e
asleep and I'm just like, you k,
thinking and seeing all these things.
So it's just hard And looking
at our pictures and stuff,
loved ones say Desiree was
just starting her life,
a career in healthcare.
And an aspiring model. I
was really proud of her.
I always told her I'm proud of
her to be a modeling because
she always told me about that.
It was just it was really amazig
how she would just like really
chased after her dreams. And
a young mom who loved her daugh,
a daughter they said she would
never choose to leave behind.
I don't know. Desiree was just,
you know, the spark in the in the room.
She was just a happy person.
Police have not determined how Desiree
fell, if it was a push, a trip,
a jump. Her loved ones tell me
they did not know about any
violence in this relationship,
and they do not believe
that she would have jumped.
Now they're raising money and
they're working with New York
officials to try to bring home r
body and the baby back to Color.
Yeah. Hopefully those efforts bg
that baby back home sooner than later.
So sad. Yeah. Terrible story. Thank you.
A jury will be back Monday to de
whether a woman accused of killg
her stepson was legally insane.
Police say Leticia Stout killed
her stepson Gannon in the sprin,
then put his body in a suitcase
and left it in Florida.
Closing arguments of the
trial wrapped up today.
Prosecutors say there's evidence Stout
knew exactly what she was doing,
while defense attorney say it ws
part of a psychotic break.
This was not premeditated murde.
This is a psychotic break.
That is the only thing that makes sense.
And this defendant
distinguish right from wrong.
The evidence and her actions
tell you that she can.
Why do all the things she did ie
didn't know what she had done was wrong?
The jury into deliberations at 5:00 tonight.
They'll be back Monday morning.
A Denver city Councilwoman up fr
reelection is suggesting a tax on white
business owners to pay reparatis
to black and brown business own.
Councilwoman Sandy Candy,
seat Ibaka has not made a formal
proposal of this racebased tax,
which would almost certainly
draw an immediate challenge
on constitutional grounds.
Capitalism was built on stolen ,
stolen labor and stolen resourc.
Denver Councilwoman Candy Seat Ibaka,
Democratic socialist, posted the
clip from the runoff election
forum this week to her TikTok a
check today. Could not undo
the cumulative impact of
generations of that stolen weal.
In all of those categories,
both Seat Ibaka and her opponent Darrell
Watson support racial reparatio.
Watson suggested private busines
investment in underserved communities.
Seat Ibaka suggested that Denver's white
led businesses could pay an extra tax that
would go to minority owned businesses
you could be collecting.
Those extra taxes from white led
businesses all over the city
and redistributing them to black
and brown owned businesses who
are not part of it or who are
simply just black or brown owne,
and that's one way to give back
in the business form fashion,
Cedar Baca told me San Francisco has a
similarly aimed legacy business program.
San Francisco's legacy business program
supports longstanding small businesses
regardless of the race of the o.
And it's funded through
the city's general fund,
not by taxing whiteled business.
Cedar Baca also told me the
constitutionality of a racebased
tax is not a factor because the
tax would be considered voluntay
if it was collected by business
improvement districts or bids.
A bid is formed when a majority
of business owners in an area ve
to create a quasi governmental
agency with taxing authority.
The City of Denver's finance department
confirmed that once a bid is created.
Its taxes are not voluntary for
businesses within the district.
There is a way for us to change
that structure and put black
and brown people in ownership
positions over our basic needs.
After Cedar Baucus Post was picd
up by right wing media outlets,
her office released a statement
saying she is being quote targed
by a white nationalist mob.
CED Ibaka is frequently the
only dissenting voice on some
issues before City Council,
and she has been a top target oe
Democratic establishment ever s.
She want to run off against
former City Council President
Elvis Brooks four years ago.
CED Ibaka faces a runoff in Jun.
Sky 9 captured incredible videof
a dust storm near Bennett today.
You can see the cars going in Oe
actually turns around on the median and
then they come out on the other side.
It created 0 visibility conditi,
also few crashes.
Strong winds also forced to brief ground
stop again at DIA this afternoo,
creating delays which can
still be felt tonight.
Things are definitely calming
down though for our weekend.
Danielle Grant will tell us when we have
our next chance of storms comin.
In just a few minutes,
nonprofits in Colorado are
preparing for the end of Title .
That was the COVID era rule that allowed
authorities Border Patrol to turn away
some migrants at the Mexico US .
A surge of migrants is expected to the border
once that order is lifted next Thursday.
The Colorado nonprofit Casa de z
is asking for more volunteers.
They mainly focus on helping people release
from the ICE Detention facility in Aurora.
But they've also been helping
migrants who arrive in Denver.
Since that first surge came back in December.
Denver's been seeing a gradual increase
in migrant arrivals this week. Already,
two of Denver's 4 shelters are at capacity.
The other two are close.
Today, more than 180 new people arrived.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is asking
the federal government to do mo.
We
will continue to do everything e
can to provide the best service.
What we cannot do and as mayor
what I cannot do as the, you kn,
the trustee of the city is to
put the city in a financial bin.
And I got to tell you $12 millin
not being secure that the federl
government is going to reimburss
really puts a potential danger r
dagger and our ability to provide the
services to all the people of Denver,
including our residents and taxpayers.
With shelters almost full,
the city has not said if it
will open more shelters or how
the city will deal with more
arrivals if no beds are availab.
It's understandable that homeows
are really upset by property tax
bills projected to go up by 304.
Even 50%. Some owners of commerl
properties have it worse.
Nicole and her husband owned Backyard
Bird Chicken and Donuts and Tin.
They open six weeks before the pandemic,
and they survived its impacts.
Even buying their building so
they don't have to worry about
a landlord raising their rent.
But they're likely to have a
hole in their budget because of
the property tax bill they just
got for their business address,
$8000 and now for 20 for this y.
What we would be paying next year is $21,000.
When it is like basically your complete
livelihood and we have everythig
poured into this and it's hard,
it's hard to not worry.
Just like a residential propert,
commercial property owners can
also appeal the higher value.
County assessors say they listeo
every concern and suggest commel
property owners provide the couy
information that they may not know about,
like unused office space.
During his life, Salvador Jose
Somano fought for the rights
of coal miners in Lafayette,
any of them immigrants like him.
In 1929, he was rumored to be poisoned and
his burial place was unknown till now.
He was buried.
And a Potter's field,
his resting place,
had vanished from Lafayette's records
to A local activist tracked dows
location through church and Mortuary logs.
Somato's grandson David bottom
a new headstone,
finally giving the family a plao
remember his life 94 years late.
We love our ancestors, We respet
our ancestors. And it means a
lot to Somato's have traveled at
of them, including myself,
but a lot of them have driven
over 1000 miles to be here.
The activists who found Somanos
Graves says he found additional
graves lost or erased from reco.
And trying to get the city of
Lafayette to recognize the many
other immigrants and Latinos whe
grave sites have long been unma.
My only immediate dream for him
is to be able to come home from
school every single day alive.
A movement is bringing
thousands of moms to Denver.
It was a nice night here in thee
backyard, but a wild afternoon h
some pretty crazy thunderstorms.
I'll let you know when we have the next
best shot at seeing rain coming.
I think we're safe to say we'ree
highest elevation surf shop in America.
7000 feet above sea level,
a sport meant for non landlocked states.
Has one really awesome spot in Colorado.