School Pickup Dispute Turns Deadly in Green Valley Ranch, Two Charged With Murder
A long-running personal feud turned deadly Wednesday afternoon when a school pickup confrontation ended in gunfire and a crash, leaving one man dead and several others injured — including children — in Denver’s Green Valley Ranch neighborhood.
According to an arrest affidavit, Ashley Stone, 38, and David Bland, 39, have been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly opening fire on a car occupied by a mother, her two children, and a male driver. Both suspects are currently being held in the Denver jail.
The affidavit details an ongoing dispute between Stone and the mother, stemming from Stone’s belief that the woman was still involved with Bland. Over the past year, the two women had multiple altercations, including one incident last August where school staff had to intervene and separate them during a school pickup.
On the day of the shooting, the mother told police that Stone threw a bottle at her vehicle and flashed a gun during a tense school pickup. Later that afternoon, after collecting her daughter from Pitt Waller K-8 School, she said she saw both Stone and Bland shooting into her vehicle.
The male driver was struck by gunfire and lost consciousness, causing the car to crash around 3:45 p.m. near East 38th Avenue and North Odessa Street. A 5-year-old child was ejected from the vehicle during the collision, while the mother and another child were also injured and taken to a nearby hospital.
The Denver Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released the identity of the deceased driver. Investigators recovered dash cam footage from the victims’ vehicle that reportedly captured the shooting in progress.
Stone and Bland remain in custody as the case unfolds.
