Resident urges independent probe into El Paso County sheriff and DA over Anthony Padilla killing

During the public-comment period at the Dec. 10 El Paso County Board of County Commissioners meeting, resident Kendra Peterson urged commissioners to open an independent investigation into the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney Michael Allen over the police response to the fatal shooting of Anthony Padilla.

Peterson said she recently completed first-aid and CPR training and, based on that training, believes a different response could have saved Padilla's life. She told commissioners she heard deputies at the scene failed to provide bleeding-control care and instead waited, which she described as "life threatening." Peterson named a deputy she said responded and criticized actions by the district attorney. She said, "If they didn't know these things, they weren't paying attention in their first-aid training and pose a risk to everyone in our community. If they did know these things ... they were deeply, knowingly, willfully complicit in the racist killing of Anthony Padilla and as such are a threat to the community." (Speaker punctuation and capitalization retained from transcript.)

Peterson asked the board to open an independent investigation into the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney Michael Allen for "covering up this case" and cited public frustration with what she described as a lack of accountability. She also referenced public debate at earlier meetings about staffing and raises for the DA's office.

The board did not take action on the request during the Dec. 10 meeting. The remarks were given during the public-comment portion of the agenda; no county response or staff assignment to open an investigation was recorded in the meeting minutes or on the public record during the session.