Earl Ryan fired his gun “up,” and he was trying to threaten Tom Crookham, never expecting that one of the bullets he fired would ricochet through Crookham’s hand and kill 2-year-old Noah Crookham, according to opening statements this morning in Ryan’s first-degree murder trial.
“Earl Ryan was absolutely, utterly devastated when he heard three hours later that someone had been hit by the bullets and that Noah had died,” said defense attorney Jennifer Henslee.
But prosecutor Michelle Amico said it was nothing more than a “series of bad choices” by Ryan the morning of Oct. 12, 2008.
Ryan had been living in the basement of a duplex rented by his sometime girlfriend, Angela Crookham, who lived upstairs at 1243 Madison St, in east Denver. Angela Crookham admitted to police about having somewhat of an affair with Ryan, including sex one time, before trying to reconcile with her estranged husband, Thomas.
The Crookhams went to church that Sunday morning, then returned to Angela’s, where Tom started cooking breakfast.
Ryan came upstairs, according to Amico, and wanted to know how long Tom was going to be around. He went downstairs to his room, when Tom yelled out “Don’t talk to my wife.”
Ryan, said Amico, came upstairs with a .357 Magnum he had purchased the day before and began firing at Tom, who scooped up little Noah and ran out the front door. A bullet traveled through his hand and into Noah’s chest, killing him.
Ryan spent two hours on the front porch holding a gun to his head while Denver Police Sgt. Greg Jones talked him out of committing suicide.
The trial, before Denver District Judge Brian Whitney, is expected to last two weeks.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
