A second bond hearing was held for 46-year-old Lumumba Sayers Sr. in an Adams County courtroom Tuesday following the first heated hearing that left family members from both side of the aisle in tears.

Sayers Sr. first bond hearing on Aug. 15 eventually led to a $5 million cash-only bond, an increase from the $1 million bond initially set by 17th Judicial District Judge Jeffrey Ruff.

Despite the defense attorneys’ arguments Tuesday that the bond was too high, with Sayers Sr. allegedly being able to be protected and supported by his wide community on bail, Ruff decided to keep the amount the same.

The former anti-violence advocate and Aurora youth supporter faces a first-degree murder charge and two counts of menacing by the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office following the shooting death of 28-year-old Malcolm Watson at his son’s fifth birthday party on Aug. 10 in Commerce City.

Multiple witnesses told investigators that Sayers Sr., who was not invited to the party, walked up and allegedly shot Watson at close range in the head. He also allegedly pointed a gun at a bystander, took keys from Watson’s body and attempted to place the handgun under him, according to the arrest affidavit.

The shooting is thought — both by police and prosecutors — to have been an act of revenge, coming nearly a year after Sayers Sr.’s 23-year-old son, Lumumba Sayers Jr., was shot and killed on Aug. 19, 2023, at 28th and Welton streets in Denver. It was a quadruple-victim shooting that left Sayers Jr. and 25-year-old Gulian Musiwa dead.

Suspect Tyrell Braxton, 24, was arrested a month after the shooting on suspicion of first-degree murder and first-degree assault, and police believe that Braxton and Watson were friends.

“I factored in what I was hearing from [the defense’s] side. I factored in what I was hearing from the people, and I found that the $5 million cash-only bond was appropriate,” Ruff said, noting that both community safety and flight risk were major factors in the initial decision to raise the bond.

The first bond hearing raised commotion throughout the Brighton court room as multiple members of Watson’s family was given the podium to speak on Sayers Sr.’s potential bond.

None of Sayers Sr.’s family spoke at the hearing.

Sayers Sr.’s defense attorney, Megan Downing, referred to the August hearing as an “unusual procedure” on Tuesday, eventually leading to her requesting the second hearing.

The initial hearing led to vocal cries from the packed court room, with family and friends of both the suspect and victim yelling at each other across the aisle. 

“I think what we were all dealing with was a very volatile environment. There were approximately eight sheriff’s deputies here trying to keep order,” Downing said.

Ruff called the hearing “unbelievable untenable.” 

But, despite a second hearing and Ruff blocking any family members from speaking, the bond remained the same.

Downing argued that the defense has yet to receive a wide array of crucial evidence, including the interview footage in which Sayers Sr. allegedly admitted to shooting Watson. 

She also argued that Sayers Sr. has tremendous support from the community he helped build through his Heavy Hands, Heavy Hearts Center that was founded in 2015. The foundation’s aim was to pull kids off of the streets with movie nights, Thanksgiving dinners, fitness classes, mountain camping trips and girl’s empowerment gatherings. Fundraising events were aimed at youth violence prevention.

With that support and heavy restrictions — like house arrest — Sayers Sr. should be released until the trial, according to Downing.

Ruff disagreed, noting that his “support” cheered when he entered the court room during his first hearing, showing a potentially turbulent situation if he were to be released.

“The type of support you all suggest he has is not the type of support this court would want for him in the community,” Ruff said. “It makes it really difficult for me to believe he can be in the community without a lot of skin in the game in order to ensure the safety of the victims and this community.”

Tajuana McKinley, the mother of Watson, seemingly agreed during the first hearing, saying: “If you let this man out, it’s your fault if guns and bloodshed go on in this community… This is not over, by far on any side. This is going to go on, your honor.”