Aurora man acquitted of murder in Lakewood shooting
Tylor Serrano faces attempted murder charges in a separate Denver shooting.
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An Aurora man was acquitted of first-degree murder on Wednesday in the 2023 shooting death of a Lakewood man, according to court records.
Tylor Kevin Serrano, 21, was arrested on Sept. 23, 2023, after police said he shot two men in the 9000 block of West Virginia Avenue in Lakewood.
One of the men, 24-year-old Dayton Smith, was later pronounced dead, according to an arrest affidavit.
Serrano was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, tampering with a witness and felony menacing, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor child abuse and weapons charges.
A Jefferson County jury convicted Serrano on two misdemeanor weapons charges for having a large-capacity magazine. He was found not guilty on all other charges, according to court records.
Serrano’s attorney, Grant Grosgebauer, said Serrano will not serve jail time for the misdemeanors because his sentence included credit for the over 500 days he was in jail after his arrest.
Grosgebauer said he was proud of the jury for considering the evidence in the case and seeing that Serrano acted in self-defense.
“I’m happy for Tylor, because it took a lot of guts for him to turn down multiple (plea) offers, and facing hundreds of years in prison,” Grosegebauer said.
Serrano is also charged with attempted murder, assault and attempted assault in a June 2023 shooting at the Regis Motel in the 8200 block of East Colfax Avenue.
He was identified as a suspect in that case through the Lakewood Police Department’s investigation and told Denver detectives he recognized his car in stills from surveillance videos from that shooting, according to an affidavit.
Serrano is in custody on a $100,000 cash bail and is scheduled to appear in Denver District Court on Monday, according to court records.
The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the outcome of Serrano’s Jefferson County case.
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