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Aurora teen sentenced to 30 years for fatal shootings

An Aurora teenager will serve 30 years in prison for his role in two fatal shootings.

Dhaevontae Rogers-Broadus, 18, was sentenced to 20 and 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for his involvement in the shooting deaths of Ahmed Zaniuldeen, 23, and Raphael Velin, 15, respectively, occurring 11 days apart from one another in 2023, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. The judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently, instead of consecutively.

Rogers-Broadus and two other teenagers were trying to steal a car from a parking lot in the 7400 block of East Harvard Avenue on Sept. 19, 2023, when Zaniuldeen, the car’s owner, heard his alarm going off and confronted the three teens before being shot and killed, according to the release. Zainuldeen and his family had moved to Denver just nine months before the incident after fleeing from their home country of Iraq.

The gun used in the shooting belonged to Rogers-Broadus, who was on probation at the time of the incident, but prosecutors did not believe he was the shooter, according to the release.

Just 11 days later, Rogers-Broadus was involved in another deadly killing, shooting Velin four times in an aggravated robbery in a Southlands Mall parking lot along with four other suspects, according to the release. Investigators could not determine who among the five fired the fatal gunshot that killed Velin.

Rogers-Broadus was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Zainuldeen and 30 years in prison for the murder of Velin.

Dhaevontae Rogers-Broadus was sentenced to 30 years in prison for two fatal shootings in September 2023. Photo courtesy of the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office (Courtesy photo, 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office)
Dhaevontae Rogers-Broadus was sentenced to 30 years in prison for two fatal shootings in September 2023. Photo courtesy of the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office (Courtesy photo, 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office)


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