Parole denied in killing of teens
Gary Flakes didn’t waste any words on the two boys he helped put in Block 116, Spaces 344 and 345, of Evergreen Cemetery.
He didn’t mention Andrew Westbay or Scott Hawrysiak and made only a vague reference to the night of Feb. 14, 1997, when he and an accomplice shotgunned them to death.
“These are things I did when I was 16,” he told the Colorado Parole Board on Wednesday in a hearing conducted by telephone from Tutwiler, Miss., where he is being held in the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility.
“I’ve been locked up since I was 16. I’m 24 now — I’ve been down for 7½ years. I’m ready to move on with my life.”
The board disagreed, announcing Wednesday afternoon that Flakes will remain in prison for at least another year.
He will be eligible for parole again next fall, and his mandatory release date is Oct. 26, 2010.
Flakes’ comments mirrored those made by his accomplice, Jeron Grant, earlier this year.
Both are eligible for release because neither was convicted of first-degree murder, but rather of being an accessory to murder. Grant received 12 years, and Flakes received 15 years.
At a hearing in March, Grant didn’t talk about the 13-year-old and 15-year-old they shot to death in Cheyenne Meadows because Grant — according to his confession at the time — felt like killing someone to “get something off my chest.”
Nor did Grant apologize, although he did call the killings “a big mistake.”
“I feel I’ve served a lot of time,” Grant said that day.
Grant’s apparent lack of remorse played a role in the parole board’s decision to keep him locked up.
“Two young people are dead,” board member Debbie Allen said. “He’s not taking any responsibility.”
Wednesday, Flakes’ unemotional tone stood in sharp contrast to his behavior the day he was sentenced. Then, he wept, apologized and pleaded for forgiveness.
Wednesday, Flakes answered questions simply, saying “Yes, sir” repeatedly as parole board member John Rosen asked him whether he’d paid his restitution — $280 — or had any write-ups.
He was written up once for “verbal abuse,” said Flakes, who was transferred to Mississippi in June after he was identified as a troublemaker in the Colorado system.
Flakes said when he’s released, he intends to live with his mother, Catherine McGibbon, in Detroit, and become “a productive member of society.”
“I was thinking about trying to work at a nursing home,” he said.
“It’s time for me to go home now,” he concluded.
It’s incredible that Flakes thinks he’s served enough time, Andrew’s uncle, Michael Westbay, said Wednesday.
“He’s very fortunate to be only sentenced to 15 years,” he said.
Flakes and Grant have shown their true colors at their hearings, Westbay said.
“I saw his little tears when he went in for sentencing,” he said. “He was crying for a second chance. Andy and Scott will never have a second chance.
“We can’t see them grow up to be teenagers. They didn’t even get to go to a dance. They didn’t get to go on a first date. We didn’t experience any of that. We’re visiting two boys 6 feet under . . . We will never forgive them.”
