Boulder police arrest 52-year-old suspect in homeless teen’s death

FILE PHOTO: Zaria Hardee,19, went missing July 10, 2024. Her body was found July 14 wrapped in blankets on a bicycle trailer near in the block of 18gh and Goss. This is one of the last photos taken of her before she left home. Boulder police announced Thursday a suspect has been arrested in her suspected homicide.
Courtesy Zaria's family
More than six months, after her body was found wrapped multiple times and strapped to a bike trailer in Boulder, police announced an arrest in the suspected murder of homeless teenager Zaria Hardee.
Boulder Police Department officers announced the arrest of James “Jimmy” West, 52, during a news conference Thursday. West, who is also homeless, faces a first-degree murder charge. West had been in-and-out of jail while police were building their case, said Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn who said that the distressing case “exposed a tragic reality that we, as a society, need to do better.”
Zaria died of blunt force trauma to the head combined with asphyxia, according to arrest documents. She weighed 87 pounds and stood 4’11’.
Boulder police arrested West Thursday at the city’s Civic Park hours after a judge signed a warrant for his arrest.
“Zaria should be here today,” Redfearn said. “She should not have been living on the streets of Boulder. It is entirely unacceptable that this young woman lived and ultimately died on our streets.”
Hardee’s mother, Annastacia Saavedra, watched West’s first appearance by WebEx. She said she had never heard of West.
Boulder police arrested West Thursday at the city’s Civic Park near the county library just hours after a judge signed a warrant for his arrest.
“She had honey-brown eyes and fair skin,” said Saavedra of her troubled daughter. “She was a fragile bomb. Tilt her a little and she blew up.”
Jimmy West has a lengthy criminal history dating to 1992, including recent drug and menacing charges in 2024, according to court documents. The bike trailer Zaria was found on was his — although he lied about it to police, the affidavit stated.
Some rope investigators found in West’s camp site was similar to that which bound Zaria and a piece of the tent which was wrapped around her matched perfectly with a piece which was found at the camp, according to the arrest document. Police also discovered a roll of tape in West’s camp which was similar to tape which covered the teen’s mouth.
In the days before her death, Hardee was spotted hanging out with Boulder’s homeless crowd in Central Park, on the Pearl Street Mall and under a bridge. A bicyclist thought the scene was odd because she didn’t look like she belonged there, so concerned he took a video of her. In a screenshot photo from that footage, she leaned into an older man who appeared to be sleeping as they sat on a discarded cushion next to a shopping cart.
The image was taken at 7:30 a.m. on July 5 underneath Junction Place on Goose Creek Path in Boulder. It shows Zaria wide awake, an aluminum foil package in her hand.
The sad details of Zaria’s death revealed in the arrest affidavit indicate her boyfriend “confessed to selling Zaria to West likely accepting drugs as payment.” The last day she was seen alive was July 10, 2024.
Zaria’s body was found July 14 after the manager of the apartments on Goss Street near Canyon Boulevard and 18th Street called police to come check out a bicycle trailer, which had something bulky ratchet-strapped to it.
No one knew it was there until residents noticed “the smell of death” coming into their units through the air conditioner vents from out back.
Zaria was last seen by friends, her mom said, four days earlier.
Saavedra, Zaria’s mother, received a few quick phone calls from her “stubborn” first-born, who made up her mind to leave home as soon as she turned 18.
“She said that no one could tell her what to do,” said Saavedra, who has six other children and lives in Wyoming.
“It is a tragedy,” said Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty.
Dougherty noted that the City of Boulder is not alone in struggling to provide enough services to help people struggling with mental health, addiction and homelessness.
West’s first court appearance is in Boulder Friday.