DENVER — Court documents obtained Thursday reveal new details about the shooting deaths of a couple and their young daughter in southwest Denver last week.
According to the affidavit and application for an arrest warrant, dispatchers received a call just after 9:30 p.m. on May 23 reporting the shooting.
The caller said an 8-year-old boy had run to his home and said his mother, father and sister had been shot.
Officers responded to the home in the 3000 block of South Golden Way in the Bear Valley neighborhood. They found the three victims inside with multiple gunshot wounds: Joseph McDaniels, his wife Althea and their daughter Christine.
Althea was pronounced dead at the scene. Joseph and Christina were taken to local hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.
According to the documents, the McDaniels family had recently sold their home with plans to move to Mississippi. They were packing up their belongings the day of the shooting.
The boy told investigators that earlier that day, a man named Bustaman Kartabrata came to the family’s home. However, he left because the boy’s parents were not there.
According to the documents, Kartabrata is Joseph McDaniels’ stepfather.
Kartabrata later returned to the home with one of the boy’s grandmothers. This time, the boy’s parents were home, so Kartabrata and the grandmother came inside.
The boy said his parents, his grandmother and Kartabrata were talking. Another one of the boy’s grandmothers was in a different room. At one point, Joseph told Kartabrata about the plans to sell the house and stay in a hotel.
The boy told investigators that after the adults were done talking, Bustaman and his grandmother left the house and were sitting in their vehicle outside.
During that time, the family continued to pack Joseph’s Jeep with their belongings. When they were finished, they went back inside, closed the door and locked it, according to the boy.
Then, Kartabrata returned and said the grandmother had forgotten her purse. He then went inside and began shooting. The boy reported that his father was shot first, his mother second and his sister last.
The boy stated he escaped through the kitchen door and his other grandmother jumped off the roof. The grandmother who arrived with Kartabrata remained in the vehicle, according to the boy.