WEEK OF JANUARY 16, 2025
VOLUME 23 | ISSUE 46
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Victim’s mother looks forward after driver sentenced John Carson
takes vacant seat in state Senate Kevin Van Winkle held post until becoming Douglas County commissioner BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The courtroom overflowed with family members, friends and law enforcement for Morones’ sentencing hearing. Many family and friends were wearing white tshirts with a picture of Mackiewicz on it, paired with the words “Justice for Alex.” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly was overcome with emotion as he recounted the gruesome aftermath in detail at the hearing. “(It was) one of the most heart-wrenching crashes I’ve ever seen,” Weekly said, adding he has been in law enforcement for more than 30 years. While Judge Bowling said he understood Morones had no intention of taking a life that day, the decision for the sentence he imposed was based on avoidability of the
Douglas County Republican John Carson unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the board of county leaders in 2024, but he will now represent his area at the state Capitol after winning a seat left open by state Sen. Kevin Van Winkle. “I wanted to reduce taxes and regulations,” Carson said on why he ran to fill the vacancy in state Senate District 30. District 30 covers a large portion of Carson northern Douglas County, including Highlands Ranch, Castle Pines, Lone Tree, Roxborough Park and nearby areas. Carson emerges with a spot in public office after Van Winkle beat him in last year’s primary that decided which Republican would face a Democrat in the November election to replace Lora Thomas as a Douglas County commissioner. Thomas could not run for reelection because of term limits. At the time, Van Winkle served as the senator for District 30. Now, as Van Winkle adjusts into his office at the county level, Carson will seek to represent conservative values as the area’s new state senator. The vacancy in District 30 arose amid Van Winkle’s move to the county commissioner role. Van Winkle, also a Republican, had won an election for District 30 in 2022 and had about two years left in his term when he moved to the county position. Carson is expected to serve for that remaining time. A vacancy committee of local Republicans appointed Carson to the open spot on Jan. 4 in a meeting at the Southridge Recreation Center in Highlands Ranch, Carson said. That type of committee can consist of Republicans from neighborhoods in the state Senate district, along with locals who hold office in the Douglas County Republican Party and GOP politicians who hold public office, according to Carson. Familiar faces competed at the
SEE MORONES, P6
SEE CARSON, P4
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly watches as Victoria Cegielski speaks to the media about what kind of person her son was.
Boy was killed in crash on Highlands Ranch Parkway BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Outside of a courtroom in the Douglas County Courthouse on Jan. 7, the mother of the 13-year-old boy who was struck and killed on Highlands Ranch Parkway last March held onto her son’s baseball hat as she made comments following the sentencing of the man responsible for her son’s death. “I can’t say I’m happy, but I am satisfied,” said Victoria Cegielski. “It’s just a start.” Just before 7 a.m. on March 6, her son, Alexander “Alex” Mackiewicz, was riding
a Onewheel — which is an electric skateboard — on his way to school, excited for the first day of baseball practice that awaited him later that day. Mackiewicz waited for the signal to cross Venneford Ranch. He had crossed six of the seven lanes before he was struck. The driver, Ruben Morones, 53, was headed east on Highlands Ranch Parkway when he ran a red light and struck Mackiewicz with his vehicle, a Sherwin-Williams van. Mackiewicz was ejected from his Onewheel and landed against the curb and died. Morones was charged with careless driving resulting in death. He pleaded guilty in late October. On Jan. 7, County Court Judge Lawrence Bowling sentenced Morones to one year in jail with the possibility of a work release, and to pay a $1,000 fine.
VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 14 | CALENDAR: 17 | PUZZLES: 19
A heart-wrenching crash
PHOTO BY HALEY LENA
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