Downtown Denver was a ghost town just past 5 p.m. on Saturday, which is why Tyler Faulkner noticed the woman who strolled past the front store window.

The 16th Street Mall Jamba Juice general manager looked down for a few seconds, which was just long enough to miss a man coming from the opposite direction. The man stabbed the woman in the throat and took off running.

“I could see her. She was barely standing by the store entrance A man ran in asking for napkins and they laid her down on the concrete. He came in three times, so I grabbed some towels to help with the blood,” Faulkner told The Denver Gazette on Tuesday.

“Then I realized a woman was dying right in front of me,” he said. 

He remembered Celinda Levno screamed when paramedics lifted her on to the stretcher.

The 71-year Levno was a Phoenix-based flight attendant, who, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants confirmed in a statement, was in Denver on a layover when she was attacked.

She was one of three people who Denver Police Department investigators said were randomly stabbed by allegedly the same suspect within an hour of one another on Saturday night. On Sunday evening, a fourth victim was stabbed in the arm and torso. He also died. The two other stabbing victims are expected to survive.

Elijah David Caudill, 24, was arrested by Denver police on Sunday night in connection to the four stabbings. He was in court Monday for his first advisement

Hitting the ground running

Newly sworn Denver District Attorney John Walsh has a very high-profile, violent double-murder to confront in his very first days in office.

Besides mentioning “the tragic events of the last few days” at his swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Walsh said little about the Caudill case — except that it is “pending and charges will be filed in the next couple of days.”

In an interview with The Denver Gazette, he said he wants to get the city in a place where people feel safe.

“And we have a situation where we literally look back and say, ‘Okay, we had a tough go for a while, but now we’re in new place and we’re moving forward.'” 

He added that residents’ worries about public safety are legitimate.

“There needs to be an active strategic partnership with law enforcement, the city and the state to make sure we’re doing everything possible on the prosecution side to ensure that the city is safe,” said Walsh.

Caudill, who grew up in the northwest Denver metro area, has been arrested at least 15 times since 2018 on charges that included criminal mischief, disturbing the peace, robbery (2022), menacing (2021), theft (2019), and twice for sex assault (2024), court records showed.

Two of those 15 arrests occurred in Adams County.

Among the other cases against Caudill was a sexual assault charge in January 2024 out of Denver. Prosecutors in that case asked for a “competency pre-screen,” according to court records. 

Documents also showed that Caudill was released from the Denver County jail in November 2024.

He left the Denver jail precisely two months before the stabbings, under the assistance of a state program designed to assist mentally ill inmates, according to Denver Gazette news partner 9NEWS. 

The murders came two months after the release of Caudill from the Denver jail under the assistance of Bridges of Colorado.

Bridges of Colorado, a program established by a state law, “places Court Liaisons across Colorado’s 22 judicial districts to serve defendants (referred to as participants) in the criminal justice system who have significant mental health needs.”

The program “facilitates collaboration between the criminal justice and mental health systems by partnering with providers, courts, and often families to provide wraparound care for participants.” Its website describes the program as “first-of-its kind,” one that is “transforming lives and systems at the intersection of behavioral health and criminal justice.”

Court documents also showed that, when Caudill failed to show up for a court hearing on one of his Denver cases, authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. That warrant was active when the stabbings occurred, according to court records. 

In a news conference Monday, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said not only did police not know where Caudill was between the stabbings, they also didn’t know where he’s been since he was released from jail in November.

When a reporter showed his photo to numerous downtown store clerks, construction workers, commuters and homeless people who often frequent the 16th Street Mall, not one person recognized him. 

One restaurant worker who would only share his first name said that since the stabbing, he carries a knife in a fanny pack he wears at his waist.

“You hear about these kinds of things happening in other places, but now it’s close to home,” he said. 

Calls for improvement

Public safety in downtown Denver is at the forefront of conversation among city leaders.

The random mass stabbings prompted members of the Denver City Council to make an urgent call for a virtual Town Hall on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. in response to an outpouring of requests from constituents, said Councilmember Chris Hinds, who represents District 10.

He said that the Denver Police Department has agreed to show up at the event and organizers are attempting to get Mayor Mike Johnston to attend, as well.

On Tuesday afternoon, two Denver police officers on electric bikes on mall patrol duty stopped outside of the Jamba Juice where Levno was stabbed to death. As they took notes, they were called to respond to another location.

Faulkner, the Jamba Juice general manager, said that before Saturday night’s stabbing, he rarely saw officers on the mall.

“It’s too little too late,” said Faulkner as he watched them cycle away. 

Denver Gazette news partner 9NEWS contributed to this article.