Colorado Man Opens Fire on Estranged Wife After Learning Child Was Not His, Killing Cousin Who Intervened

A Colorado man has been sentenced to prison after being convicted of murdering his estranged wife’s cousin while attempting to shoot his wife during a domestic violence incident.

The 34-year-old Colorado man, identified as Kelynn Lewis, has been sentenced to 57 years in prison on May 18. He has been charged for second-degree murder and attempted murder after an Adams County jury found him guilty of targeting his wife and her cousin. The victim has been identified as Vatrice Little. The shooting occurred in February 2024, when Lewis tried to shoot his wife but instead fatally shot Little.

Lewis’ wife had texted him before the incident informing him that he was not the biological father of one of their children, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which announced the sentencing in a press release.

“Lewis responded with a threat that he would kill her the next time he saw her,” the release mentioned. “Later the same day, Lewis entered his estranged wife’s apartment building, forced his way inside, and went to her bedroom. He pointed a handgun at her and opened fire."

Little stepped between Lewis and her cousin “to protect her,” according to the District Attorney’s office. Lewis then fired a handgun five times. Lewis’s wife fell to the floor and “pretended to be dead,” which saved her life and allowed her to survive.

The couple has four children between the ages of three and nine, and all were present during the shooting.

“The defendant was there to murder somebody else, essentially a crime of retaliation for news that he didn’t like, and murdered Vatrice Little in the process,” District Attorney Brian Mason told Law & Crime on May 18.

“This was a vicious, vicious murder. Little died heroically. She was literally trying to protect a family member from being killed and was killed herself while doing so. It’s a tragedy.”

According to Mason, the motive was clearly laid out in text messages Lewis sent to his wife.

Mason added, “People can do really horrible things to one another as Mr. Lewis did here, but people can do really wonderful heroic things too, as Ms. Little did.”