Dozens of passengers and crew on the flight that aborted after the man jumped the airport’s perimeter fence in May are suing the airport, the city and two related companies for negligence and wrongful death.

Michael Mott, 41, was able to scale the 8-foot fence and head toward the terminal for more than two minutes without detection on May 8 before he walked in front of Flight 4345 as it accelerated for takeoff and was hit by the right engine, igniting a fire.ĢżThe Denver Office of the Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide.

In the 56-page lawsuit filed Sept. 17 in Denver District Court, attorneys with Ramos Law and Texas-based Watts Law Firm allege a passenger, Silva Ermelinda De Cervantes, died as a result of the inhalation of smoke, toxic fumes and combustion byproducts,” the lawsuit states.

The Weld County Coroner’s Office confirmed she died on May 16 — eight days after the incident at DIA — in Weld County, but declined to release her cause of death.

The lawsuit names DIA leaders, including CEO Phil Washington; Hazelbrook Behavioral Health, which ran the Aurora home where Mott was placed by the Colorado Department of Human Services; Covenant Aviation Security; and 20 unnamed workers from those companies.

Sixty-eight people — including an air traffic controller, two juveniles and the estate of the passenger whose family said she died from the crash — are seeking unspecified damages for the incident, according to the complaint.

Airport officials previously said 12 people had minor injuries from the crash and five were taken to the hospital.

The attorneys also describe a series of alleged failures by DIA, Covenant Aviation Security and Hazelbrook Behavioral Health that allowed the crash to happen.

If the airport perimeter and property were “monitored, staffed, and operated with reasonable care, (staff) would have detected the intrusion, alerted air traffic control and the aircraft operator, and halted operations on Runway 17L before Flight 4345 ever began its takeoff roll,” attorneys wrote in the complaint.

A worker did detect a ground alarm at the time Mott scaled the fence, but thought it was caused by a nearby herd of deer.

Covenant Aviation Security and Hazelbrook did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Denver airport officials referred questions to the City Attorney’s Office.

In an email, an unnamed spokesperson with the Denver City Attorney’s Office said the incident was terrible and tragic, but the city does not bear legal responsibility for it.

The lawsuit includes 17 claims, including negligence, negligent training and hiring, a 14th Amendment violation for state-created danger, negligent infliction of emotional distress and the wrongful death of De Cervantes.

The passengers and crew suffered “serious bodily injury, mental and emotional injury, and other damages,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit, including “exposure to smoke, fumes, combustion byproducts, and airborne contaminants; injuries sustained during the collision, engine fire, aborted takeoff, and emergency evacuation; and severe emotional distress, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.”

Several have not been able to fly again because of the incident, according to the complaint.

Denver airport officials knew or should have known the facility’s perimeter was vulnerable because people had previously broken into the property, and this was the sixth breach since 2023, the lawsuit claimed. Two other incidents in that same time frame involved people jumping the fence and entering the airport’s warehouse area.

Mott was suicidal while he was living at a Hazelbrook-run facility in the 3600 block of South Bahama Street in Aurora, and staff there knew he had plans to kill himself and required constant supervision — but he was able to leave the home undetected and travel to DIA, according to the complaint.

State human services officials put Mott in the facility as part of an outpatient restoration order after a judge found he was not competent to proceed in a criminal case.

While Mott was a resident there in 2025, state officials audited the home and found 16 violations related to not keeping records for court-ordered medications, case management or care coordination, attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

Hazelbrook Behavioral Health was also one of the subjects of a about Denver taxpayer-funded mental health grants awarded to organizations without licensing or experience in the field.

The city’s continued to give grant funding to Hazelbrook, including $1.3 million in 2026 for a “transitional safety zone program,” which is a criminal justice diversion program, according to the foundation’s online records.

Attorneys representing the passengers also plan to sue the state of Colorado — including the Department of Human Services, Behavioral Health Administration and Department of Health Care Policy & Financing — but must wait for 90 days after submitting a notice of the lawsuit in early August, the complaint states.

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office has no comment on the notice, spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco said.

involving a car and a motorcycle near Speer Boulevard and Wewatta Street at 1:09 p.m. Sunday. The motorcyclist died on scene, and paramedics took a passenger to the hospital, where they later died, .

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will identify the two killed in the crash.

The crash happened at an intersection near the entrance to Ball Arena’s Corolla and Tundra parking lots. No events were scheduled at Ball Arena on Sunday, .

Additional information about the crash, including the cause and the events leading up to it, was not available. Police did not respond to questions about the ages and genders of the two killed in the crash, but said the other driver involved remained on scene.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Police responded to reports of an unresponsive person in the 600 block of Fox Street, near Sixth Avenue, at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, a spokesperson for the police department said. Officers found a person dead in the home, the spokesperson said.

During the investigation, officers also found what investigators believe to be a homemade drug lab, the spokesperson said.

It’s unknown what caused the person’s death or whether it was related to the lab.

The deceased will be identified by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner at a later date.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Investigators believe a driver intentionally struck a motorcycle near on Saturday, causing the rider to crash, . Paramedics took the motorcyclist to the hospital, where she later died.

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner identified the motorcyclist as 26-year-old Erick Martinez-Apodaca. Martinez-Apodaca died from blunt force injuries, and her death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner.

The driver, believed to be 40-year-oldĢż, fled the scene, police said. Officers found the car involved in the crash abandoned a short time later.

The Denver Police Department first posted about the hit-and-run in the Fort Logan neighborhood at 11:23 p.m. Saturday.

Eastman was arrested Sunday evening on suspicion of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident involving death, both felonies, police said.

He is scheduled to appear in Denver County Court on Monday morning for an advisement hearing, court records show.

Updated 2:21 p.m. Aug. 19, 2026:ĢżThis story was updated to include the identity of the motorcyclist killed in the crash.Ģż

The Denver Police Department at 11:17 p.m. Saturday. That intersection is in northeast Denver, roughly 3 miles from DIA.

Circe Ota, 28, died at the scene of the crash, according to the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner. Ota died from blunt impact injuries, and the death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner.

Investigators believe Ota was crossing the street outside of the crosswalk when the crash happened, according to the police department.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Updated 2:26 p.m. Aug. 19, 2026:ĢżThis story was updated to include the identity of the pedestrian killed in the crash.

The on northbound I-25 near Auraria Parkway at 5:03 a.m.

Investigators believe the victim exited a stalled vehicle and was hit by oncoming traffic, . The pedestrian died at the scene, police said.

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner identified the pedestrian as Jenavi Maes Gonzalez, 18, and ruled the death accidental.

Updated 12:10 p.m., Aug. 11, 2026: This story was updated to include the name of the woman who was killed.Ģż

The shooting outside the Ultra Lounge East nightclub just after midnight sent patrons running for cover, with some hiding in a closet and under cars to escape the bullets. The nightclub at 9755 E. Hampden Ave. sits along a roughly 1.5-mile stretch of road in Denver that has seen at least five homicides and 11 people shot during the last seven months, according to police data.

The gunfire at Ultra Lounge East appeared to involve at least two shooters and followed a confrontation between two groups at an event billed as a community water fight in Aurora earlier on Sunday, Denver police said. That earlier dispute reignited at an afterparty hosted at the lounge, Chief Ron Thomas said .

Denver officers were already responding to a call for a disturbance in the lounge’s parking lot when shots were fired on the nightclub’s outdoor patio and in the parking lot, Thomas said. The shooting happened shortly before 12:10 a.m. Monday.

When officers arrived, they found a man who had been shot in the parking lot, Thomas said. Paramedics took the victim to a hospital, where he died, he said. The man will be publicly identified by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.

Eight other people were shot with “varying degrees of seriousness,” Thomas said. Some took themselves to the hospital and others were taken by paramedics. As of Monday morning, all eight were in “serious but stable” condition, Thomas said.

No weapons were recovered at the scene, but investigators believe at least two guns were fired during the incident, Thomas said.

It’s unknown whether all of the people injured were with the two groups who first confronted each other at the Aurora event, or if some were bystanders, Thomas said. He did not describe the Aurora event, but said the gathering at the lounge was an afterparty for the event.

Ultra Lounge East advertised an afterparty on its social media pages for an event known as “Water Warz 26,” which was held at Del Mar Park in Aurora on Sunday afternoon and evening and was advertised as a community water fight with games, food and giveaways, as well as a birthday party for a local DJ.

Aurora police responded to a call about a “fight with weapons” at Del Mar Park just after 7 p.m. Sunday, Aurora police spokeswoman Gabby Easterwood said. Responding officers found a “very large crowd present for some kind of event,” she said, adding that “numerous fights broke out” while officers were present.

Aurora police issued three summonses and made one arrest, she said. Additional information on the people cited and arrested was not immediately available.

Ultra Lounge East was unusually crowded for a Sunday evening, Thomas said.

“I think one of the challenges that we face in our city, all over our city, is that there are far too many people that have access to guns and just don’t have the appropriate conflict resolution skills,” Thomas said during the briefing.

Investigators were working to identify suspects in the shooting based on witness descriptions, Thomas said during the Monday morning briefing.

The sprawling crime scene was still taped off late Monday morning as a detective talked to witnesses who were waiting to retrieve their cars from the closed-off parking lot. Trash littered the ground.

Witnesses recounted taking cover when the gunshots rang out. One man hid under a car. A woman huddled in a closet.

John Hawkins, who lives at a nearby apartment complex, said he heard what he thought were fireworks and stepped outside to investigate.

“I came outside and I was like, that doesn’t sound like fireworks,” he said. “People were running in all directions.”

The nightclub is not routinely a problem spot, Hawkins said. He and his neighbors sometimes hear loud cars and street racing in the area, but rarely hear music from the lounge. But he noted that his neighbors have found bullet casings on the apartment complex property. He’s thinking about moving, but not because of the recent violence.

“Stuff can happen anywhere,” he said.

The nightclub sits on the edge of Denver’s Hampden and Kennedy neighborhoods, along a stretch of East Hampden Avenue that has become a hotspot for violence this year.

In January, a 16-year-old boy and 26-year-old man were killed when a party celebrating the capture of Venezuelan president NicolƔs Maduro devolved into gunfire.

In March, a domestic violence double shooting inside an apartment in the 8400 block of East Hampden Avenue killed 59-year-old Patricia Daniel and wounded a 37-year-old woman. And in a separate incident that month, 47-year-old Neal Jones was beaten to death outside Ultra Lounge East.

Dionte Wilkins, who is listed as the registered agent for the lounge, did not return a request for comment Monday. On Facebook, that he was hurt, devastated and disappointed by the shooting.

“Iā€™m not speaking as only a Black business owner, but also as a victim of a horrific tragedy, enjoying life and celebration with a community I truly love,” he wrote. “Me and the other survivors are more than fortunate to still have our lives today. We all could have lost our lives because a random act of violence. Innocent people were hurt, and a life was lost in the blink of an eye. The senseless violence in our community has got to stop.”

Thomas told The Denver Post last week that police believe both late-night entertainment establishments and a large apartment complex that serves low-income residents have contributed to the spate of violence this year, which he said have been unconnected incidents.

Police have increased patrols in the area in an attempt to head off the violence.

In 2025, the city saw two homicides in the East Hampden corridor and one non-fatal shooting during the entire year, police records show. In 2024, the corridor experienced a single non-fatal shooting.

The fatal shooting happened in the 1100 block of Columbine Street in Denver, according to a . Paramedics took two people to the hospital, where one man later died from his injuries, police said.

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner identified him as 38-year-old Marius Munyamahoro and ruled his death a homicide.

Denver officers responded to the second shooting in the 8000 block of East 12th Avenue early Sunday morning, . Paramedics took two unidentified people to the hospital with unknown injuries, police said.

Information about the events leading up to both shootings and whether suspects had been identified was not immediately available on Sunday.

Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.

Updated 12:26 p.m. Aug. 11, 2026: This story was updated to include the name of the man who was fatally shot.

Officers responded to 911 calls about a fight in the 2100 block of East Colfax Avenue at 4:22 p.m. Tuesday, including one caller who told dispatchers a man wearing underwear got into their car and tried to carjack them.

Someone in the car started fighting with the man to try to get him out of the car, hitting him on the head and upper body before pulling him out of the vehicle. More people called 911 after the man walked away, entered a business and caused a “disturbance,” police officials said.

Officers who first came across the man inside the business said he “appeared to be breathing heavily and began yelling.” The officers handcuffed and subdued the man as he struggled, and later asked emergency medical crews to respond.

The man did not have visible injuries, and officers did not use Tasers or pepper spray during the arrest, Denver police said.

Emergency crews took him to a hospital, and he later was pronounced dead.

The State Patrol, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and DPD’s major crimes division are investigating the case with oversight from the

The Denver medical examiner’s office will release the man’s name and cause of death.

Herman Antonio Sisneros, 41, called 911 at 11:38 a.m. Sunday, according to the affidavit. He told dispatchers that he needed help, but refused to explain until officers arrived.

A Supported Team Assisted Response, or STAR, vehicle with two mental health clinicians was dispatched to the home in the 1500 block of South Xavier Street. The clinician told dispatchers shortly before 2 p.m. that the callerā€™s wife was dead in the backyard and that Sisneros refused to let them check on her, police wrote in the affidavit.

Sisneros told the clinicians that there were children in the house whom he had given medication to, and that ā€œhe had to do what he did to protect the world,ā€ the affidavit stated. The clinicians were able to check on the children, who did not appear injured, according to the document.

When , they found the woman, 39-year-old Angelica Sisneros, dead with a wound to her abdomen, police said. She was eight months pregnant, according to the affidavit.

Investigators noticed flies around the womanā€™s mouth and a ā€œbad smell,ā€ leading officers to believe she had been there for some time, according to the affidavit.

Officers had responded to the house the day before for a domestic disturbance, after which Herman Sisneros left alone, neighbors told police, according to the affidavit. When he returned home that evening, a neighbor noticed there were blood droplets in the front yard near where the car was parked, and possibly a trail of blood toward the homeā€™s back fence, according to the affidavit.

Several children younger than 10 years old were taken from the home, police said in the affidavit.

The children told officers that Herman Sisneros had physically and verbally abused their mother, Angelica, police said. One child said the mother had told the children the night before that Herman Sisneros was going to kill her, and another said that ā€œdad hit mom in the stomach with a toy.ā€

It¶¶Ņõap unknown whether Angelica Sisneros was shot or injured with another object. The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of her death.

Herman Sisneros told police that he met his wife while in prison and that they had been married for about 10 years, the affidavit stated.

ā€œHe said that he felt she was unfaithful,ā€ police stated in the affidavit. ā€œHe felt she was trying to get the police to kill him.ā€

As of Thursday afternoon, Herman Sisneros remained in custody at Denverā€™s Downtown Detention Center. He faces felony charges of first-degree murder and unlawful termination of a pregnancy and four misdemeanor counts of negligent child abuse, court records show.

He is next scheduled to appear in court on Friday for an advisement hearing, according to court records.