Colorado woman plays 'dead,' gunman fatally shoots her cousin

An Aurora woman survived a shooting by pretending to be dead after a gun was fired at her head earlier this month, according to police documents.

The gunman, her ex-husband, allegedly killed another woman in the room who confronted him. 

Vatrice Little, 35, of Denver, was pronounced deceased at the scene of the incident, 1702 Paris Street in Aurora, on Friday, Feb. 9, about 15 minutes after police were notified of the shooting.

Kelynn Lewis, 32, of Aurora, was arrested by a large police force Sunday morning, roughly 36 hours later. Officers and K9's from the Aurora Police Department's Major Homicide Crimes Unit (MCHU), Direct Action Response Team (DART), and Fugitive Apprehension and Surveillance Team (FAST) surrounded Lewis at a residence near the intersection of Jewell Avenue and Peoria Street, according to an APD spokesperson. Public records do not show Lewis living at a registered address in that area. 

According to Lewis's arrest affidavit, the fatal incident began when Lewis entered the Paris Street apartment of 27-year-old Deondranay McCain. Lewis had moved out of the apartment three months earlier, according to the report. The two were parents of a young child and had recently divorced (although the marriage was determined to not be legally binding during those divorce proceedings). 

Lewis reportedly walked to the doorway of a bedroom where McCain and Little were braiding one another's hair. He raised a black handgun, said to McCain, "You think this was a game?" and fired once at McCain's head, McCain told investigators. 

McCain then stated she dropped to the floor and pretended to be dead. 

From that position, she saw Little move in front of Lewis. McCain then told investigators she heard four or five gunshots and Little fell to the floor next to her, suffering obvious wounds to her face and bleeding badly.

Lewis then left the apartment and McCain called 9-1-1. 

Little was McCain's cousin, the affidavit stated. A family member also confirmed that relationship.

When asked by investigators why Lewis may have done something like this, McCain said she had told Lewis in a phone call earlier in the day that her youngest child was not Lewis's biological child. Per the affidavit, Lewis had believed the child was his and he had cared for the child since birth.

Thursday, the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office filed murder and attempted murder charges against Lewis. There are also four counts of misdemeanor child abuse in the case. The affidavit mentioned children being present in another bedroom of the apartment during the shooting.

A family member told CBS News Colorado that Little was the mother of four children ages 13-18. Her mother, Shalonda Hicks, said Little was recently campaigning to become the covergirl for Ink Magazine.  

Lewis's criminal background includes two three-month jail terms, one for a burglary in Aurora in 2013 and auto trespass and violation of a protection order in Douglas County in 2010. Most recently, he was sentenced in Denver court to 15 months in the Department of Corrections in 2016 for being a convicted felon in possession of weapon.

Lewis is scheduled to appear in Adams County District Court on March 6.