Denver man who shot teens who got into illegal marijuana grow, killing 1, gets 80 years in prison

DENVER – The Denver man convicted of shooting two teenagers who’d gotten into his illegal backyard marijuana grow, killing one of them, was sentenced Wednesday to 80 years in prison.

The sentence was the maximum that 49-year-old Keith Hammock could have received after being convicted in July of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, manufacture of marijuana and cultivation of marijuana charges.

A 15-year-old boy died after being shot by Hammock, while a 14-year-old was shot and possibly paralyzed, according to police.

They had broken into Hammock’s backyard and gotten into his “mature” marijuana plants, according to police.

The shooting happened near High Street and 28th Avenue last October.

Hammock had originally told officers that he’d only seen a motion-activated light turn on in the backyard, but they later found guns inside his home—one that was at a vantage point where he could have shot the teens.