A man was convicted for murdering a couple that responded to his ad and met him to purchase his used car for sale.
In the summer of 2020, Joseph and Jossline Roland needed a used car, and they found an online listing for a 2017 Toyota Rav4 that looked promising.
On Aug. 14, 2020, the parents of five from Colorado responded to the listing they’d seen on the Letgo app that was posted by a man named James Worthy.
At least that’s what the couple thought, but they would never think that someone else with bad intentions was waiting for them.
The Rolands ended up dead when they met with Kyree Brown, then 18, who used the alias of Worthy in the ad and had actually stolen the car a few days before.
On Wednesday, more than two years after the tragic killings, a jury finally convicted Brown, now 20, of murdering the Rolands.
“This cowardly act of violence leaves five children without their parents,” District Attorney John Kellner said in a statement, noting that the couple’s children are all under the age of 19.
“I think about the back-to-school nights without their parents,” he said. “The bedtime stories never read. Words just can’t describe what this killer took away.”
Brown was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder; two counts of first-degree murder – felony murder; two counts of aggravated robbery; second-degree arson; three counts of aggravated motor vehicle theft, felony theft; and bait advertising.
After investigation, it was found that Brown used a fake name to advertise a stolen vehicle for sale on the Letgo app, according to the district attorney’s statement.
On the day he murdered them, Brown drove the stolen vehicle to Southlands Mall in Aurora to meet with the Rolands.
When Joe Roland had questions about the car’s title, Brown pulled out a gun and demanded the couple give him the cash they’d brought to buy the car.
Brown then fired the gun five times, killing both Joe and Jossline Roland, who died five minutes apart from each other.
“This defendant assumed a fake identity to lure this innocent couple into his snare, pretending to be someone he wasn’t and to sell a car he didn’t own,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Garrik Storgaard said in the statement.
“He callously ended two innocent lives for a few thousand dollars and his selfish actions created an unjustifiable risk to the community and displayed no regard for the value of human life,” he said.
After shooting the couple, Brown stole $3,000 from the couple and then fled the scene.
He dumped off the stolen car near the area of Havana Street and East Colfax Avenue in Aurora and set it on fire.
“Investigators were able to solve this case by pulling computer records showing Brown’s email address was used to list the stolen vehicle online,” the district attorney said in the statement.
He was arrested on Aug. 27, 2020.
In the wake of the Rolands’ murders, their longtime friend Brittany Southerland started a GoFundMe page to raise money for a trust for the couple’s five children.
“On Friday, August 14, Joe and Jossline Roland were senselessly murdered,” she wrote. “They leave behind five sweet children.”
Describing the couple as “kind, fun, generous people,” Southerland wrote, “Anyone who knew Joe and Jossline would remember they were always the first to help. They were the best people you could know and their door was always open to friends and family.
“We would like to raise money for their children. No amount of money can replace what they’ve lost, but maybe we can pull together and provide some financial security for them.”
Brown will be sentenced on Nov. 21.
You meet the sellers armed, especially if they are black.
You meet the buyers armed not at your resident, especially if black.
Ask ask for ID when u meet them to ensure true identities
Lastly, you shoot the MF before he/she shoot you
Especially if they are black?
Too bad Colorado does not have the death penalty anymore. Now its citizens can pay for this scumbag’s room and board for the next 60 years or more.
He is not Guilty, since he is Black ?
Gerald… that term should never ever be used again … it just proves that some in society still want to generate hate over color! Character is what is important… not skin color! I was raised in the years when that word was commonly used … sitting in the back of the bus, separate movie theatre’s and restaurants! I am so ashamed of those times because even as a child .. I knew better! You should too!!
I do my best to avoid them like the plague they are.
What a disgusting person you are, Gerald Ladd. A sniveling racist. Not all scammers and killers are black. You are part of the reason this country is so racist and full of hatred.
They wonder why we call them names. Fucking garbage
90 percent of crimes committed in major cities are from blacks and thats not racist they get this reputation by there actions i have black grandkids and neices and nephews so im far from a racist but i will treat you the way you act and if thats racist then so be it
Get a rope!
An eye for an eye! Death sentence for this P.O.S.
Wow i cant believe a Black Male would do such a thing. Must be the White People that drove him to do this. He (the suspect) was the real victim… The Jails are only filled with Black males because of the White Prejudice cops!!!