COMMERCE CITY, CO – A Colorado man once known for anti-violence advocacy was sentenced Friday to 51 years in prison for fatally shooting a 28-year-old father at a 5-year-old’s birthday party, a killing prosecutors said was driven by revenge for his own son’s death nearly a year earlier. The sentence follows an April conviction in Adams County for second-degree murder and evidence tampering in the August 2024 killing of Malcolm Watson.
Lumumba Sayers Sr., 47, received 48 years for the murder conviction and an additional 1½ years for each of two tampering-related counts, according to the Adams and Broomfield Counties District Attorney’s Office. The combined sentence was imposed by District Court Judge Jeffrey Ruff.
“Mr. Sayers’ actions directly undermined the work he claimed to dedicate his life to,” District Attorney Brian Mason said in a statement. “A man who presented himself as a mentor to young people and an advocate for nonviolence chose to commit the very act he said he stood against.”
The shooting unfolded Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, at Pioneer Park, where Watson was hosting a pool party for his young son. Witnesses told investigators that as Watson was leaving around 5 p.m., a man approached and shot him “in the head at close range,” according to an arrest affidavit. Authorities later recovered four spent shell casings; Watson sustained three gunshot wounds.
Birthday party shooting and evidence tampering allegations
Prosecutors said that after Watson fell, Sayers returned to his vehicle, retrieved a second firearm, and attempted to fire again, but the weapon jammed. Witnesses reported he then placed the second gun beneath Watson’s body, a detail supported by video evidence cited in the case.
“Mr. Sayers murdered the father of a young boy at that boy’s fifth birthday party, an unconscionable and brutal act of violence,” Mason said. “This is particularly heartbreaking because Mr. Sayers had devoted part of his career to advancing the message of anti-violence. Justice is carried out in courtrooms, not in parking lots in front of children by someone seeking revenge.”
Witnesses also described a statement shouted after the shooting: “I got you, mother f—.” Investigators noted that people at the scene referenced retaliation tied to a prior killing.
Connection to earlier homicide and disputed motive
The case’s backdrop dates to Aug. 19, 2023, when Sayers’ son, Lumumba Sayers Jr., 23, an MMA fighter known as “Heavy Hands,” was shot and killed in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood along with a friend. Two others were wounded in what was widely described as a mass shooting. Authorities said the man believed to be responsible had a connection to Watson, though Watson himself was not charged in that earlier case.
An affidavit cited by investigators states: “Witnesses had stated the [shooter’s son] had been murdered about a year ago by a friend of the deceased,” adding, “[T]his murder was probably in retaliation or revenge.”
Watson’s family rejected that premise. “How is it a revenge killing if my brother isn’t the one who had anything to do with it?” his sister said.
During the two-week trial, Sayers testified that an unidentified individual shot Watson and fled, and that he approached only to retrieve a $15,000 gold necklace he said ended up near the body. Prosecutors argued there was no evidence to support that account, and the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.
