A man accused of shooting at a pickup truck involved in a collision with his car in Littleton last month, fatally wounding a passenger inside, was charged Wednesday with murder, according to Jefferson County court records.
Steven Cole Simpson, 25, faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in the road rage shooting that killed Andrew Luke Bott, 23, court records show.
Bott was a passenger in a blue Ford F-150 suspected of fleeing from a collision involving several cars in Littleton on July 25, Jefferson County sheriff’s officials said.
The driver of the pickup truck, a 20-year-old man, allegedly collided with Simpson’s white BMW X5 SUV on southbound Santa Fe Drive near Arapahoe Community College, and Simpson started following him, according to a news release from the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The Ford driver told investigators that a white SUV hit his truck and that he fled after Bott saw the SUV driver holding a gun, according to Simpson’s arrest affidavit. He told investigators that he later heard shots and saw Bott slump over. He could not describe the driver of the SUV, according to the affidavit.
Simpson told police that a third vehicle was involved in the crash, according to the affidavit. He said the truck hit a sedan while trying to merge, causing the sedan to hit his SUV.
Simpson’s passenger called 911 to report the collision shortly before 10:30 p.m., as Simpson pursued the truck west on Bowles Avenue and into the Grant Ranch neighborhood, the affidavit stated. They relayed the Ford’s license plate to dispatchers, who told the pair to stop following the pickup truck.
Simpson claimed he stopped following and went straight home, according to the affidavit.
But investigators reviewing the 911 call heard Simpson say what sounded like “He’s going to die” before two noises believed to be gunshots, according to the affidavit. After the suspected gunshots, Simpson can be heard on the recording agreeing to go home, the affidavit stated.
The driver of the Ford called 911 at about 10:32 p.m., but initially hung up, according to the district attorney’s office. When dispatchers called the number back, the driver said another vehicle was chasing him and that his passenger, Bott, had been shot, the release stated.
Investigators believe Simpson fired several times at the Ford near Grant Ranch Boulevard and West Bowles Avenue, striking Bott in the head, officials with the district attorney’s office said.
Paramedics took Bott to the hospital, where he died shortly after midnight, investigators said.
Simpson’s passenger, his 26-year-old wife Corryn Simpson, was also charged with being an accessory to first-degree murder, according to Jefferson County court records.
In a search of the couple’s home, investigators found ammunition matching the casings found at the scene of the shooting, according to the affidavit. Several firearms were seized from the home and tested, but the results of that test were not immediately available on Thursday.
Both of the Simpsons are next scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 2, court records show.
