Tragic Confrontation: Former Employee Fatally Shoots Colleague’s Wife After Workplace Dispute

Background: News footage of the apartment in Denver, Colo., where Kelsey Roberts-Gariety was killed (KUSA). Inset (left): Kelsey Roberts-Gariety (Abbott Funeral Services). Inset (right): Ernest Cunningham (Denver Police Department).

In December 2025, Cunningham was convicted of second-degree murder for the June 29, 2024, killing of 23-year-old Roberts-Gariety. The young woman lived with her husband in a Denver apartment, a connection that tragically linked them to Cunningham. After Cunningham’s termination, he harbored resentment towards her husband, his former co-worker, and set out to his home under the guise of settling scores. When Roberts-Gariety answered the door, she became the unintended victim of his wrath.

Details of the crime emerged through an arrest affidavit obtained by The Denver Post. Roberts-Gariety’s husband recounted to police the troubling backdrop of their ordeal, revealing that Cunningham not only knew where they lived but also had ongoing grievances with him. The husband further alleged that Cunningham had a history of drug use at work and had turned increasingly hostile, issuing threats following his firing.

The tragic events were witnessed, to some extent, by neighbors. One resident reported hearing a gunshot and the hurried footsteps of someone fleeing the crime scene. Another captured critical evidence on video, documenting Cunningham’s departure in his vehicle. This footage, coupled with surveillance images, enabled law enforcement to swiftly locate and apprehend him within hours of the shooting.

Police said another resident in the apartment building where Roberts-Gariety and her husband lived heard a gunshot on the afternoon of the murder and the sound of someone running away. A second resident took a video of Cunningham leaving the building in his car, which police were able to use to track him down and arrest him hours later. Surveillance video also caught Cunningham’s car leaving the building moments after the shooting.

Cunningham, who was out on parole after serving time for a burglary conviction when he murdered Roberts-Gariety, was sentenced on Feb. 27 to 42 years in prison. Roberts-Gariety’s sister, Kylie Al-Nubu’at, told local NBC affiliate KUSA that she knew anything more than 20 years was “basically a life sentence” for Cunningham. She added, “He took my sister’s life. We’re serving a life sentence of grief, so now I feel like justice has been served.”