Free Republic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A man who told police he shot two teenage boys at random "to get something off my chest" was recommended for release from prison following a parole hearing Tuesday. Jeron Grant, 26, and an accompolice were charged in the Valentine's Day 1997 shotgun shooting deaths of Andrew Westbay, 13, and Scott Hawrysiak, 15, who were gunned down at close range as they walked home after playing video games at a neighbor's house. Parole board member Curtis Devin, who held the hearing, recommended Grant be released in either August or September, only a few weeks earlier than...

Gary Flakes, a man convicted in the murders of two teenagers, formally announced Wednesday that he's running for Colorado Springs City Council. ... In 1997, Flakes was convicted of accessory to murder and negligent homicide in the killings of 13-year-old Andy Westbay and 15-year-old Scott Hawrysiak. The boys were gunned down as they were walking in the Cheyenne Meadows area on Valentine's Day. Flakes and his friend Jeron Grant accused each other of pulling the trigger of the shotgun, and neither was convicted of murder, sparking outrage. After spending 12 years in prison, Flakes was released in 2011. ... Scott...