CENTENNIAL — Aaron Thompson of Aurora is on trial in Arapahoe County District Court in the death of his daughter Aaroné, who was reported missing in 2005.
The girl would have been 6 years old at the time of her reported disappearance. Her body has not been found; police believe she died two years earlier.
Electronic devices cannot transmit from the courtroom, but The Denver Post is providing trial updates when possible.
2:45 p.m. Carlos Morris takes the stand. He was a foster parent for the brother and one of the sons of Shelley Lowe, Thompson’s late live-in girlfriend. He testified that the boys, who were 15 and 14 when the little girl was reported missing, had trouble adjusting in the months after they were taken from the Thompson home.
One boy got into trouble so much that he was kicked out of school. He also ran away from home a lot, Morris said. The other got caught shoplifting a belt from a Kohl’s department store.
Ann Smith, a “forensic” interviewer with Sungate Kids, a child-advocacy organization serving the 18th Judicial District, testified that when she talked to the children who lived in the Thompson home, it seemed as if they were coached.
“It appeared to me they were almost reading from a script,” Smith said.
Indeed, the children have testified or told authorities that Lowe told them what to say to police: that Aaroné’s favorite food was pizza, her favorite color was orange and that she was a witch for Halloween 2005.
10:45 a.m. Even after their children were taken away from them, Thompson and Lowe tried to wield power over them.
Jacqueline Ruybal, a case agent for the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, testified that both Lowe and Thompson got into arguments with their children during visitations after the kids were taken away from them.
On Sept. 7, 2006, Thompson met with the children at the human-services department. According to Ruybal, he got into a fight with one of his sons, who was 11 when Aaroné was reported missing.
Thompson grabbed the boy and would not let go, Ruybal said. Another human services department worker had to intervene to free the boy.
Thompson also apparently threatened him and said, “Don’t think just because where you’re at, we can’t get to you,” Ruybal said she overheard Thompson tell the boy.
