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Woman facing murder charge in shooting of ex-girlfriend

The victim has been identified as 20-year-old Alexus Keith.

DENVER — A woman is facing a first-degree murder charge after a shooting that left her ex-girlfriend dead last week in Denver's Highlands neighborhood. 

The Denver District Attorney's Office filed a murder charge against Paulette Joyce, 23, on Tuesday in the murder of Alexus Keith, 20.

Just before 3 a.m. on April 25, Keith called 911 asking police to respond to an apartment in the 2700 block of West 28th Avenue. Keith stated that her ex-girlfriend was armed with a gun and was pointing it at her, according to a probable cause statement from the Denver Police Department.  

After about five minutes, Keith stopped talking and dispatch could hear screaming in the background. Officers and Denver Health paramedics responded to the scene and discovered Keith suffering from a gunshot wound, according to the statement.

Keith was taken to Denver Health with serious injuries and was pronounced dead at about 4 a.m. 

Joyce was located and taken into custody shortly after the shooting near the 2700 block of Speer Boulevard. A DPD officer also located a handgun nearby.

Credit: Denver Police Department
Paulette Joyce, 23.

A witness told police that just before the shooting the two women were arguing in the bedroom of the apartment and that the victim was “throwing stuff at Ms. Joyce and they were getting heated,” the statement said. 

When Keith called police and started giving information about Joyce, the witness told police Joyce pointed a gun at Keith and then heard a gunshot, according to the statement. 

Before she was formally charged Tuesday, Joyce was being held for investigation of first-degree murder. The shooting is being investigated as a domestic violence-related homicide, police said. 

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