By JUAN ESPINOSA
After serving more than 28 years, David Carrillo, 49, was paroled from the Colorado prison system Jan. 31, 2024, thanks to Gov. Jared Polis and the governor’s belief that the convicted murderer has rehabilitated himself in prison.
Carrillo was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the 1993 murder of Chris Romo in Pueblo, Colo. Carrillo was 19 at the time.
In a letter to Carrillo, Polis wrote, “It is evident that you have put in tremendous work while incarcerated to change your mindset and pursue educational goals by obtaining your GED, bachelor’s degree, and MBA, and becoming the first incarcerated Adjunct Faculty Member in the country where you teach Introduction to Business at Adams State University.”
In the letter, Polis told Carrillo that he would be paroled effective Jan. 31, 2024 — terms and conditions of the parole to be determined by the state Parole Board.
Polis announced Carrillo’s commutation on Dec. 22, 2023, along with six other commutations and 21 pardons. Carrillo was the only convicted murderer in the group.
“I believe you deserve clemency for several reasons,” the governor wrote. “You were part of a group of defendants that engaged in conduct that led to the death of another individual. As a result of your participation, you were convicted of first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Another member of the group committed the murder, while you stood some distance away. Nonetheless, you were convicted under a complicity theory and received a sentence of years that is more than the person who actually committed the murder. You received a life without parole sentence and have served over 28 years for the crimes you committed, while all others who were involved with this crime, including the actual shooter, have been released from DOC. In fact, the shooter in this crime was released on parole in 2019 after serving 25 years. These disparities, coupled with the work you have done while incarcerated, support granting your application.”
The “shooter” was Anthony Carrillo, David Carrillo’s younger brother. Also convicted of murder in the Romo slaying was Phillip Michael Montoya, who was 16 at the time. Montoya was released on parole in August 2023. Police investigators said the killing was “gang-related” and that Romo wanted out of the gang to which the group belonged.
Carrillo’s road to redemption began early in his time in prison, he told former Pueblo Chieftain reporter John Salas in a letter. Salas had met Carrillo before Romo’s death and wrote in the Chieftain that Carrillo was an “uncommonly talented teenager.”
Salas had helped Carrillo get a job in the newspaper’s mailroom and had introduced him to several local business leaders.
In a letter written to Salas months after his conviction, “Carrillo thanked me for my efforts on his behalf, apologized for not being strong enough to resist his toxic past, and pleaded with me not to stop believing in him.”
Eighteen years later, Salas received a second letter. “I can proudly say that I am a college graduate,” Carrillo wrote. “I completed my associate degree program in paralegal studies with a GPA of 3.9. I am currently enrolled in (the) Adams State College extended studies program. I am now pursuing my bachelor’s degree in business administration.”
Carrillo also told Salas that he had completed his study of Steven Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” and is mentoring other inmates, many with gang backgrounds, on how to live more principled lives.
“I stepped completely out of the gangs,” Carrillo said, adding that it wasn’t easy to do in prison. “For years, I thought I had all the answers . . . that I was (through the gangs) doing good for me and for my people. It was a lie . . . All we were really doing was holding each other down. We did more harm to each other than any imagined or real enemy.”
In his letter, Polis said his commutation of Carrillo should not be “taken as a judgment of the wisdom of your conviction or a statement about any particular aspect of our criminal justice system.”
“My decision today is based on the circumstances of your case alone,” Polis wrote.
Carrillo earned an MBA from Adams State University in 2021 and became the beneficiary of a program proposed by Leigh Burrows, associate director of prison programs for the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Burrows asked ACU if they would be willing to hire a professor who is an inmate to teach in their bachelor’s program at Colorado’s Territorial Prison. The university staff agreed and Carrillo was hired to teach Introduction to Business — an accredited university class. Carrillo has taught the class inside the walls for the past six months.
One thing for sure, by his own example, Carrillo has taught his fellow inmates the power of education.
“This commutation will change your future,” Polis said in closing his letter to Carrillo. “It is up to you to make the most of this opportunity. Good luck to you.”
