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Aurora man sentenced for motel murder

Hayden Banks, 33, shot and killed David Islas at the Venture Inn in March 2022.

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — An Aurora man who shot another man to death at an Adams County motel in March 2022 was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison.

The Adams County District Attorney's Office said in a release that Hayden Banks, 33, shot and killed David Islas in Islas' room at the Venture Inn on North Pecos Street. 

Prosecutors said the dispute centered around a counterfeit $100 bill that Banks was trying to recover from Islas. Banks confronted Islas in the doorway of his room, and when Islas tried to shut the door, Banks pulled out a handgun and shot him once through the heart, according to the release.

RELATED: Arrest made after man killed at Adams County motel

A jury found Banks guilty of second-degree murder in June after a weeklong trial. On Thursday, a judge sentenced him to 40 years in the Department of Corrections.

"The defendant egregiously and unnecessarily took another man's life – and he will now have to pay the consequences," District Attorney Brian Mason said in a statement. "I am grateful to the jury, as well as the Adams County Sheriff's Office and my DA's Office prosecution team, for securing justice in this case."

Credit: Adams County Sheriff's Office
Hayden Banks

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