Guilty verdict means ‘Justice for Tony’ in Denver
The man accused of murdering a U.S. Army veteran from Columbia in Denver, Colo., in July 2011 was found guilty by a jury last week.
Sgt. Anthony Silva, 25, of Columbia, had been stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs and was staying at a Denver motel until his family could drive him home upon his discharge from the service. On July 23, 2011, Silva met 23-year-old Ricky Scott at a bar near the motel where he was staying. Following some sort of struggle, Scott later shot and killed Silva.
After a week-long trial in Denver that was attended by 20 or so family members and friends of Silva, the jury convicted Scott of first-degree murder. Scott faces life in prison without parole when he appears for sentencing on Feb. 8.
Sgt. Silva, the son of Diane and Dave Silva, was a 2004 Columbia High School graduate.
“Getting this guilty verdict is a release… a feeling of peace knowing we got justice for Tony and that this murderer, liar, bad person will be off the streets and not be able to hurt anyone else,” Diane Silva told the Republic-Times on Monday.
For more on this story, read the Dec. 19 print edition of the Republic-Times.
