Denver’s police officers are suffering over the death of 5- year-old Deion Santistevan, who was killed by his father during a tense standoff this week.
“We are used to being in control of chaotic situations,” said Doug Stephens, commander of the crisis-negotiation team that handled Monday’s murder- suicide. “That outcome is outside of our control.”
Even the department’s support staff who were not involved in the actual negotiations with 22-year-old Elias Santistevan are going through emotional turmoil, officials said.
“Everyone feels highly disappointed,” Stephens said. “Most people have children of their own, and it hits home really hard with the police department.”
FBI statistics show that 85 percent of hostage negotiations end without tragedy. Denver police have engaged in 12 standoffs so far this year, 31 in 2005 and 41 in 2004 without a significant glitch, Stephens said.
Deion’s mother, Chanell Trujillo, has publicly criticized the way the department handled the negotiations – based largely on an account from one of three hostages held during the five- hour ordeal. She was told by a man known to them only as Mike that police prematurely went into the apartment, prompting Trujillo’s husband to kill their son and himself.
Mike, in tears and distraught, declined to give a Denver Post reporter a full account of the incident when approached Wednesday as he spoke to Deion’s grandfather at a growing memorial to the slain child outside the southeast Denver apartment complex where the incident occurred.
“There are always people who will come in and speculate on what could have or should have been done,” Stephens said. “It’s just part of what goes with the work.”
James Kiely, a former Marine who witnessed portions of the standoff, says Denver SWAT officers did not throw flash-bang grenades into the apartment until a gunshot was fired.
“That’s what I heard: a single shot and then three flash bangs,” Kiely said.
Based on a preliminary investigation, Denver police say Kiely’s account matches what they know.
“The best information we have indicates that there was a shot that was fired,” said Denver police Detective John White. “Our SWAT officers were already in position when they heard shots fired. That is when they reacted. That is when they were in fear that someone had sustained a gunshot wound, and that is when they entered.”
Police denied requests to release recordings of the exchange between Santistevan and the officers, citing the ongoing investigation.
Kiely was standing across the street from the standoff scene after being told to leave his apartment. He watched as SWAT officers surrounded the complex and stayed quietly in position throughout the ordeal.
When asked if it was possible that there were shots fired after the flash bangs, Kiely said “absolutely not.”
Another neighbor in the complex, Kathleen Gillespie, was in her bedroom when she heard what she thought was an explosion, then two shots fired.
“I don’t want to discount the police department, but I just don’t know if all of this is correct,” Gillespie said.
Eloy Trujillo, Deion’s grandfather, says he doesn’t know what is true, but he was still critical of the decisions police made.
“Grandpa is going to find out the truth,” he said. “All I need to know is what happened so I can have some peace.”
A viewing for Deion will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary, 7777 W. 29th Ave. in Wheat Ridge. A rosary will follow at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Ghost Church, 1900 California St. in Denver. The funeral is at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Holy Ghost, followed by a burial at Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery.
