David Smith helped federal and state authorities solve a string of bank robberies in the Denver area and Kansas pulled by the 83 Gangster Crips.
For detailing the crimes to investigators, Smith, 26, died a violent death.
On April 14, 2003, a gang member whom Smith helped send to prison, Tyrone Walker, fired two shots into Smith as Smith sat in a car at the Kitty Hawk apartments at 1313 Xenia St.
On Thursday, Walker was sentenced to life in prison plus 12 years by Denver District Judge Sheila Rappaport.
At the time he shot Smith, Walker had been released from prison after serving a five-year term for an attempted robbery of a Denver bank.
“David Smith may not have been the greatest member of the community,” prosecutor Joe Morales said of Smith, a former gang member. “But he helped take bank robbers off the street.”
At his sentencing, Walker, 27, declined two invitations to speak.
Morales told Walker that Smith’s mother, who works at the Denver courthouse, chose not to be present.
“She says she forgives you and hopes you make something out of your life,” Morales told Walker.
The robberies occurred in the late 1990s. During the trial, Jeff Russell, an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent, testified that Smith’s assistance was critical.
“Without Smith’s cooperation, we would not have charged Tyrone Walker,” Russell said.
Smith’s body was dumped at University Hospital, where a security guard found it. It took two years of intense and secret grand jury investigation to solve the crime.
On July 23, 1997, Smith and Walker attempted to rob the Colorado Community First Bank in Denver. But Denver police Detective Levert Smith was inside the bank and shot Walker in the arm.
Although both men escaped, Smith came forward shortly after and detailed the Crips’ activities.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
