Judge keeps $5 million bail in murder case, concerned over community support for defendant

An Adams County District Court judge on Tuesday declined to reduce the $5 million bail for an Aurora community activist charged with murdering a man in retaliation for his son’s death.

Judge Jeffrey Ruff cited concerns about the groundswell of community support for the defendant, Lumumba Sayers Sr., 46, who is charged with first-degree murder and menacing in the Aug. 10 death of 28-year-old Malcolm Watson.

The judge noted that a contingent of Sayers’ supporters previously applauded and cheered when the handcuffed man entered the courtroom and that a prior hearing had turned into a “complete out-of-control circus” because of conflict and emotions between the victim’s family and Sayers’ supporters.

“That is the very community you are suggesting are the ones who keep him accountable and keep him in line (if he is released),” Ruff told Sayers’ defense attorney. “That is a concern.”

Sayers’ attorney, Megan Downing, had argued his cash-only bail should be reduced from $5 million to no more than $500,000, citing his deep ties to the community and lack of prior criminal history. She also said his health was deteriorating in jail — he’s lost 50 pounds since his arrest — and that he was not safe behind bars. He was attacked in jail in October and was hospitalized with serious face injuries, she said.

Prosecutor Laura Anderson argued that Sayers would present a danger to the community if released and said he confessed to shooting Watson in a recorded exchange.

“This was a planned murder of an innocent person,” she said.

Investigators believe Sayers killed Watson at Watson’s son’s birthday party at a Commerce City park on Aug. 10. Two witnesses told police they saw Sayers walk up to Watson and shoot him multiple times. Another witness recorded Sayers attempting to plant a gun under Watson’s body after the killing, according to a police affidavit.

Police allege the killing was retaliation for Sayers’ son’s death. Lumumba Sayers Jr., 23, was killed in August 2023. No one was convicted of murder in that case, but the suspected shooter was Watson’s friend, according to the affidavit.

Sayers Jr. was an anti-violence advocate, and together with his father operated the Heavy Hands Heavy Hearts Center, a gym in Aurora that the elder Sayers said was dedicated to preventing gun violence.

Ruff also cited the recent passage of Amendment I — which restores the ability for judges to hold people without bail when they are charged with first-degree murder — when he ruled Tuesday.

“Voters have also weighed in, they are telling us they don’t want these cases on bond,” he said. “How does that affect this? We can have a debate about that. But…the entire community — the state — is saying, ‘We don’t really feel safe with people charged with these crimes out walking amongst us.”

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