Deputies say CU grad's death appears to be random

CENTENNIAL - Deputies say he got off a light rail train at exactly 11:40 p.m. on Thursday night to begin his walk home. But University of Colorado graduate Andrew Graham never finished that walk.

The 23-year-old's body was found in a front yard in the 8700 block of East Phillips Place on Friday morning by a homeowner and his daughter.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson says Graham died from an apparent gunshot wound after what he says seemed to be a random encounter on his walk from the public transit station to his home. Deputies held a news conference Sunday to try to fill in the gaps to the story of Graham's last walk.

Graham's mother, Cyndi Graham, says her son was a wonderful young man who never caused any trouble and always watched out for his sister.

"He was a very good young man and didn't deserve to die," Cyndi Graham said, fighting back tears at a news conference on Sunday at the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office.

Less than three blocks from where Graham's body was found, deputies located the victim's satchel, which contained his passport, cell phone, cash and credit cards. All were accounted for, Robinson said.

Graham, who graduated from Cherry Creek High School in 2004, had all of his information with him because he was returning from Boulder where he had been searching for a room to rent as he prepared to start graduate work in January at CU.

Graham's mother wore a poker chip around her neck at a news conference on Sunday as a tribute to her son. She said his life's mantra was about "having a chip in the big game," from the movie "Clear and Present Danger."

"He had a plan for his life," Cyndi Graham said, as she spoke about his knack for statistics, and his intention to start studying in an engineering graduate program at CU. She talked about his love for the Blues and his passion for playing his guitar.

Heartbroken by his death, Cyndi Graham said she would have gladly traded places with him and spoke about how she refused to let him enlist in the Army, thinking she was keeping him safe.

"He would have been safer there," she said. "At least there he would have had Kevlar."

Anyone with any information about the incident is urged to call the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office at 303-795-4711.