Uncle body slams lawyer of nephew's suspected killer: Cops
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Background: The Arapahoe County Courthouse in Colorado (KCNC/YouTube). Inset left: Daniel Ashby (Arapahoe County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: H. Michael Steinberg (H. Michael Steinberg).

A Colorado man faces charges after allegedly body-slamming a defense attorney, resulting in spinal injuries. The incident reportedly involves the attorney representing the individual accused of killing the man’s nephew.

Daniel Ashby, 36, is charged with second-degree assault, as indicated by Arapahoe County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime. He is currently detained at the Arapahoe County Jail with a bond set at $75,000.

The events unfolded on Monday at the Arapahoe County Courthouse, where Ashby attended a hearing for the case of his 12-year-old nephew’s death, allegedly caused by a crash involving 19-year-old Christopher Ramirez-Rodriguez. Ashby reportedly sought to confront Ramirez-Rodriguez, but encountered resistance from the defense attorney.

Before the court session started, Ashby allegedly “aggressively approached [H. Michael] Steinberg,” the lawyer, in an attempt to reach the defendant, as detailed in an arrest document obtained by local CBS affiliate KCNC. The attorney reportedly instructed Ashby to enter the courthouse and attempted to create space by pushing him back. In response, Ashby allegedly executed a “MMA style takedown” on Steinberg, leaving him unconscious.

The hallway altercation at the courthouse led to Steinberg sustaining several spinal fractures. He was subsequently taken to a nearby hospital. On Tuesday, he shared with a Denver-based TV station that he was suffering from a “shattered pelvis” and experiencing “serious pain,” with surgery planned for Thursday.

Ashby was arrested immediately after the incident.

Michael Ashby, Daniel Ashby’s older brother and the father of the 12-year-old victim, said his brother and their entire family have been attending court hearings for Ramirez-Rodriguez and they are “frustrated with this legal system.”

On July 19 at about 10 a.m., the boy was using a “marked crosswalk on an electric scooter when Ramirez-Rodriguez failed to stop for the crossing’s red light and struck the boy,” the Aurora Police Department said at the time. “The investigation determined the pedestrian had activated the red signal light that stops both east and westbound traffic when the crash happened.”

Witnesses cared for the boy until first responders arrived at the scene, and he was taken to a local hospital. However, he later died from his injuries.

Police said Ramirez-Rodriguez remained at the scene and “was cooperative with the investigation.” While they did not suspect he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they were “investigating distracted driving as a contributing factor to the crash.” He was charged with careless driving resulting in death.

After the alleged attack this week, the judge in the case reportedly scolded the families in attendance “about taking justice into their own hands.”

Law&Crime has reached out to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office for more information about Monday’s incident.

Daniel Ashby is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

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