BRIGHTON — A hypocrite. A monster. A coward.
Those words and more choice language were leveled Friday afternoon at Lumumba Sayers Sr., a convicted murderer who was once a mixed martial arts fighter and leader of an anti-violence nonprofit called Heavy Hands Heavy Hearts Center.
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Adams County District Judge Jeffrey Ruff sentenced Sayers to 51 years in prison for shooting and killing 28-year-old Malcolm Watson Sr. at a birthday pool party for Watson’s 5-year-old son in Commerce City’s Pioneer Park on Aug. 10, 2024.
Sayers, 47, received 48 years — the state’s maximum penalty — for second-degree murder and 18 months each for tampering with evidence and attempted tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors alleged Sayers Sr. killed Watson to avenge the death of his son, Lumumba Sayers Jr. — who was killed in a shootout in Five Points in 2023 — because Sayers Sr. believed Watson was connected to his son’s killing.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Watson’s family implored Ruff to impose the maximum sentence, saying Sayers’ cruelty, lawlessness and hypocrisy were unforgivable.
“He gave his sorry speeches and his crappy boxing lessons,” said Dominique Davis, one of Watson’s eight sisters. “He did the opposite of what he told others to do. What a joke. What a fraud.”
Throughout the tense hearing, Watson’s mother, sisters and the mother of two of his sons explained how Watson’s death left a gaping hole in their family, and how it will forever taint a child’s birthday.
“Words can’t describe the pain of losing Malcolm in the cruelest way imaginable,” his mother Tajauna McKinley said. “Malcolm’s sons had to watch their father die in front of them. Our lives are forever changed not knowing whether to celebrate a birthday or mourn Aug. 10.”
The family described Watson as a loving father, and the prosecutor showed a video of his oldest two sons — Malcolm Jr. and Milo — singing happy birthday and shouting “I love you” as they clapped at the song’s end. Watson had saved the video on his phone and investigators found it after his death.
He also enjoyed Marvel movies, football, singing and traveling with his mother.
“If my son loved you, you knew it and you felt it,” McKinley said. “If my son was your friend, you knew it and you knew he was a standup dude.
“I’ll never hear my son say, ‘Momma, I love you. You’re the best.’ My son was my biggest supporter.”
The sentencing hearing was held with Adams County sheriff’s deputies standing around the courtroom. The two families were separated on opposite sides, and afterward, Watson’s family was instructed to leave the courthouse and drive away before Sayers’ family was released from the courtroom.
People screamed curse words at Sayers as deputies led him out of the courtroom, and his family began shouting that they loved him. Ruff ordered everyone to be quiet and leave when they were told.
Just before the 2024 killing, Sayers Sr. had attended an anti-violence rally sponsored by the Denver nonprofit Struggle of Love in Montbello. He drove with family members from the rally to Pioneer Park, where surveillance video showed him park and walk toward Watson.
Watson was shot and killed seconds later, just out of the video’s frame.
Multiple witnesses said Sayers Sr. walked up to Watson, greeted him and then shot him at close range.
“It was out of nowhere in broad daylight in front of a host of witnesses, some of whom were children, some of whom were Mr. Watson’s children,” Deputy District Attorney Aaron Brunskill said as he asked for the maximum sentence. “I can’t come up with words to describe just how inhumane, how horrific that is. The hypocrisy can’t be left unsaid either.”
Sayers denied killing Watson and took the stand in his own defense to say someone else killed the 28-year-old and that he only pulled an unpermitted gun from his pocket after he heard shots fired in the park.
He shook his head in disagreement throughout Friday’s sentencing hearing, and Ruff noted that lack of remorse and accountability when handing down the penalty.
Four men, including Sayers’ wrestling coach at Denver’s East High School and Cody Sudmeier, a former mixed martial arts fighter who trained with Sayers, spoke on his behalf. All said Sayers’ history of helping others should be considered in his punishment.
Sudmeier said he has visited Sayers in jail and that Sayers had been attacked by multiple men, who injured his face and shoulder. Sayers wore his right arm in a shoulder sling on Friday.
“I respect how horrific of a loss all of this is,” he said.
Sayers declined to speak at the hearing. His attorney, Megan Downing, asked the judge to appoint public defenders to represent Sayers in his appeal.
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