An MMA fighter and anti-violence activist in Aurora, Colorado, was found guilty of second-degree murder earlier this week in a fatal shooting carried out in retaliation for his son’s death.
Lumumba Sayers Sr., 47, was convicted of second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and attempted tampering in connection with the fatal shooting of Malcolm Watson, KDVR reports.
Watson, 28, was killed in August 2024 in front of friends and family while attending his son’s fifth birthday party at a park in Commerce City, about 11 miles from Aurora.
Authorities say Sayers Sr., a well-known anti-violence advocate who worked to prevent youth violence at a gym in Aurora, arrived at the party uninvited, approached Watson, and shot him.
Witnesses believe the attack was an act of
retaliation for the killing of his son, Lumumba Sayers Jr. Watson was reportedly a friend of Tyrell Braxton, who killed Sayers Jr. during an August 2023 gunfight that killed another person and injured two more.Braxton was sentenced in 2025 to more than 16 years in prison for the shooting.
According to the New York Post, Sayers Sr., who had been leading his son’s anti-violence foundation, “Gloves Up Guns Down,” went directly from an anti-gun rally to Watson’s child’s birthday party, where authorities say he shot him at close range.
Witnesses at the party had also been present during the August 2023 shooting that killed Sayers Jr.. In addition, Sayers Sr.’s daughter and the mother of Watson’s children, were both injured .
Sayers Sr., who was acquitted of first-degree murder, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24.
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