An Aurora man accused of killing his stepbrother told investigators he shot the other man in self-defense because he was threatening him with a knife — but police did not find evidence to back up his statement, according to an arrest affidavit.
Zackery Mitchell Williams, 32, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 36-year-old David Burrow, who police found with multiple gunshot wounds at a home in the 1800 block of South Fairplay Street in Aurora on Tuesday night.
A neighbor called 911 at 6:34 p.m. and asked for an ambulance and police officers to respond to the home where Williams and Burrow lived with their father, Aurora Police Department detectives wrote in the arrest report.
Officers found Burrow in his room and he was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m.
The men’s father told police he was sleeping when he awoke to yelling and screaming and walked into the hallway, saw Williams standing in the doorway to Burrow’s room and heard several “pops.”
Williams was holding a gun and told his father that Burrow had pulled a knife on him.
Police found and arrested Williams as he was walking along East Mexico Drive, and he told detectives the family was having a normal day when Burrow got mad at him for an unknown reason, then came into Williams’ room in the basement and threatened him with a Gerber pocket knife.
Williams told police he shot Burrow in the basement once or twice, then Burrow went back upstairs and came back down, which is when Williams shot him again, according to the affidavit.
But investigators did not find any shell casings or blood in the basement or stairwell and did not find a knife at the scene, Aurora detectives wrote in the complaint. Police did find 15 spent shell casings in Burrows’ room upstairs, and the coroner determined Burrow was shot in the back and head.
Williams is being held without bail in the Arapahoe County Detention Center and is set to appear in court on Tuesday.
