A disgruntled coworker in Colorado has been arrested after he went to his former colleague’s home after being fired and shot the man’s wife to death.
Ernest Cunningham was found guilty of second-degree murder in December 2025 in connection to the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Kelsey Roberts-Gariety.
Cunningham, 53, went to his former colleague and Roberts-Gariety’s apartment in Denver, Colorado, on June 29, 2024, after he was fired from his job. He reportedly planned to confront the former coworker, but Roberts-Gariety opened the door and Cunningham shot her instead.
Roberts-Gariety’s husband told police after that Cunningham “knew where they lived and had issues with him,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Denver Post. The husband also told police that Cunningham did drugs while he was on the job before he was fired. However, it is not clear if that is the reason he was dismissed.
After Cunningham was let go, Roberts-Gariety’s husband claimed he turned his anger toward him and repeatedly called and threatened him.
Police spoke to several people who live in the apartment building where Roberts-Gariety and her husband lived, and one person said they heard a gunshot and someone running away on the afternoon of the murder.
Meanwhile, a second resident took a video of Cunningham leaving the building in his car. Police used the footage to connect him to the crime, and he was arrested hours later. Surveillance video also captured Cunningham’s car leaving the building moments after the shooting, which was further proof of his involvement.
Cunningham was sentenced during a hearing on February 27 and was ordered to spend 42 years in prison. At the time of the shooting, he was on parole after he served time for a burglary conviction.
Following Roberts-Gariety’s death, her sister, Kylie Al-Nubu’at, spoke to KUSA about Cunningham’s sentence and said that anything more than 20 years was “basically a life sentence.”
“He took my sister’s life. We’re serving a life sentence of grief, so now I feel like justice has been served,” she said.
While reflecting on the fact that Cunningham was on parole at the time of Roberts-Gariety’s death, Al-Nubu’at wondered if her sister would still be alive if he was never released from prison.
“I feel like if he would have never been out, she might still be here,” she said. “He was released and he made a permanent decision.”
Al-Nubu’at went on to describe Roberts-Gariety — who moved from her native Ohio to Denver — as someone who loved her family and celebrated with them often.
“It’s been crazy. You know, every time something good happens, the first thing we want to do is call her to tell her,” Al-Nubu’at said. “Her presence is missing and we’ll forever be able to tell.”
Al-Nubu’at also said that her sister’s death has changed how she approaches family and relationships.
“It has taught us to check on each other way more often,” she told the outlet. “Check on your family, your people, your siblings. You just never know when they need you.”
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