A Denver man was sentenced Friday to 48 years in prison for the murder of a 14-year-old boy in 2022, according to court records.

Denver District Court Judge Karen Brody sentenced Diego Lopez, 19, on Friday to 48 years in prison, with a credit of two years and 293 days for time served, court records show.

Lopez was 16 years old when he shot Josiaz “JoJo” Aragon in the back and then pistol-whipped, beat and stabbed the 14-year-old. Aragon was days away from celebrating his 15th birthday.

Lopez was also ordered to pay $10,000 to Aragon’s family during Friday’s sentencing hearing, according to court records.

Aragon’s body was found at a baseball field near Denver’s Southwest Recreation Center on Aug. 8, 2022.

The two teenagers knew each other from school and had met at the baseball field for a gun sale, police said. Lopez shot Aragon in the back after they made the deal.

The 26th annual Donor Dash takes place this weekend in Denver, and among the participants will be a Coloradan whose life was changed drastically by transplantation.

A dozen years ago Doug French, 74, was struggling with burning eyes and swelling. He was living with hepatitis C.

“It didn’t stop me, but it surely slowed me down,” he said.

While he was holding out hope the newer treatments would assist with his situation, French went to meet with the hepatologist.

“He said, ‘If you don’t get a transplant, you won’t survive.’ And I went, ‘Oh, I see. I got this.’ That changed everything.”

French was living in Colorado at the time and was put on a transplant list in Oregon. So he and his wife moved temporarily to Portland and lived in a hotel for four months before he got the call they were hoping for. A recently deceased organ donor had a liver that was a match.

“Waking up from that transplant was a miracle. For the first time in years, my eyes weren’t burning from hepatitis C,” French said.

French recently celebrated 10 years since receiving his new organ, and with his body functioning at a higher level, he has lost 110 pounds.

He has always been an avid scuba diver, and in addition to making it easier for him to do one of his favorite hobbies, his new liver has allowed him to take other activity levels to new lengths. He completed his first half marathon in April. That was something he wasn’t even thinking about prior to his transplant.

“Was it even on the back of your mind: ‘One day I’m going to do a half marathon?’” CBS Colorado’s Michael Spencer asked French.

“Oh no, no, no,” said French, who jogged with his nephew-in-law. “During that particular time, I kind of like draw a blank about my life and about my future. I had no idea what was next. It saved me. And I’ve I can’t say enough about how grateful I am,” he said.

The Donor Dash takes place on Sunday at Washington Park. CBS Colorado is a sponsor of the event and Spencer serve as the emcee of the event. Find out how you can register for the event or help the Donor Alliance at donoralliance.org/donor-dash/.

The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce held its State of the Cities event Wednesday, just days after releasing a new report that shows a slowing economy in Colorado. 

The report, by economists at the Chamber and Boulder Leeds School of Business, finds unemployment and foreclosures are up year over year while consumer confidence and home sales are down. The one bright spot is jobs, which are up .1%.

The mayors of Denver, Aurora and Northglenn say they are feeling the shift.

“Our sales tax in Northglenn is down,” said Northglenn Mayor Meredith Leighty. “In May, we’re looking at a decrease of 2%.”

The mayors assured the Chamber’s small business owners they were doing what they could to help. They say the lack of affordable housing is among their biggest challenges.

“Right now, the cost of materials is going up, the cost of land is going up, and the cost of labor is going up,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.

He says the city is giving tax breaks for middle income housing projects. Northglenn just opened a new townhome complex and senior living facility.

Coffman says he’s focused on redeveloping 30 blocks of Colfax Avenue.

“Transitioning back from retail over to multi-family residential — a mix of market-rate housing and affordable workforce housing.”

Economists at the Denver Metro Chamber say while Colorado ranked among the top states in real GDP, employment, income growth, and home price appreciation from 2008 to 2023, it ranked among the bottom 10 states in 2024.

If a cooling economy isn’t troubling enough, an icy relationship between Coffman and Johnston is complicating things further.

Johnston shrugged off the year-long standoff.

“There is no distrust, is no damage. My door is always open,” he said.

Coffman vehemently disagreed.

“There is an issue and there is distrust,” he said.

Aurora sued Denver saying it violated their mutual aid agreement during the George Floyd protests and then sent gang-affiliated migrants to Aurora.

Your Political Reporter Shaun Boyd, who moderated the event, ask the mayors what it would take to bury the hatchet. One suggested quarterly meetings that include the mayors and their top staff. The other agreed.

The Chamber’s State of the Cities event included more than 400 business and community leaders and focused on collaboration — not only between cities but between local government and the business community.