A disgruntled former employee in Colorado confronted his ex-colleague at home after being fired, but ended up shooting the man's wife dead when she answered the door. Ernest Cunningham, 53, received a 42-year prison sentence for the second-degree murder of 23-year-old Kelsey Roberts-Gariety. The incident occurred in Denver in June 2024.
On June 29, 2024, Ernest Cunningham, 53, arrived at an apartment in Denver, Colorado, intent on confronting his former colleague, the husband of Kelsey Roberts-Gariety. Cunningham had been fired from his job where he worked with the husband, and according to an arrest affidavit cited by The Denver Post, the husband reported that Cunningham knew their address and had prior issues with him, including drug use on the job. Following his dismissal, Cunningham made repeated calls and threats to the husband.
When Roberts-Gariety, 23, opened the door instead, Cunningham shot her. A resident in the building heard a gunshot that afternoon and the sound of someone fleeing. Another resident captured video of Cunningham driving away in his car, which police used, along with surveillance footage of the vehicle leaving shortly after the shooting, to track and arrest him hours later.
Cunningham, who was on parole for a prior burglary conviction at the time, was convicted of second-degree murder in December 2025. On February 27, he was sentenced to 42 years in prison. Roberts-Gariety's sister, Kylie Al-Nubu'at, spoke to KUSA, noting that anything beyond 20 years amounted to a life sentence for Cunningham. She stated, "He took my sister's life. We're serving a life sentence of grief, so now I feel like justice has been served."
The case highlights tensions in the workplace that escalated into violence, with police reports detailing the sequence of events leading to the tragedy.