WELD COUNTY, Colo. — A Wyoming mother said justice has been served after a 20-year-old Weld County man was convicted of murdering her son.
In February 2023, Johnathan Hayes, 21, was shot and killed inside a home near Pierce. His mother, Autumn Petty, remembered her son as a loving man.
"He used to tell the girls in high school he was Cupid because he was born on Valentine's Day," she said. "Like his love is still spilling over without him being here."
Petty described her son as a class clown who liked to banter, a human that loved to help, and a father who would do anything for his daughter.
"So [his daughter] was only 4 when he passed, and that's been the hardest part is seeing the effect that it's had on her," Petty said. "It's hard to explain that when we leave the house or she goes to sleep or anything like that that, somebody is not going to go away and never come back."
Hayes lived in Wyoming but spent most weekends in northern Colorado with friends. On Feb. 4, 2023, he was shot and killed inside a home in rural Weld County.
An arrest affidavit states a Benjamin Mitich was charged with manslaughter and reckless endangerment. For 10 months, Petty thought the shooting was an accident, until a cellphone video surfaced. Police said it was recorded on Mitich's phone.
"They found a video that was recorded before he shot Johnathan in the bathroom of the home," she said. "He videoed himself putting the clip in, racking one into the chamber and pointing himself at the mirror so he knew what he'd look like when he killed someone essentially.
"The DA told me it might be difficult [to watch] because they believe that that would also be exactly the last thing that Johnathan saw just at a different time period," she said. "So that can be a little bit difficult."
The District Attorney's Office said the cellphone video was enough to upgrade Mitich's charge to second-degree murder. A jury convicted him in the fall. Last Friday, a Weld County judge sentenced him to 24 years in prison.
"I'm glad he didn't get away with murder," Petty said. "Johnathan deserved more than that. Johnathan deserved the justice he got."
Petty said she requested that Mitich be sentenced to 29 years. She said with good time, he would have served just shy of 22 years, which is as long as she had her son.