Denver teen sentenced for killing 16-year-old girl, injuring teen boy

Deontre Hollie, 18, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree assault earlier this year.

DENVER — Deontre Hollie, the 18-year-old who killed a teenage girl and injured her boyfriend, was sentenced Friday to seven years in the Colorado Youthful Offender System, according to a release from the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

The judge who sentenced Hollie also suspended a 40-year sentence in the Colorado Department of Corrections, the release said. Hollie pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault on June 21.

According to the release, Hollie shot 16-year-old Tayanna Manuel and a teenage boy in December 2022, killing Manuel. The boy, whom prosecutors said was her boyfriend, survived his injuries.

An arrest affidavit says Hollie shot both teenagers in the area of 4699 N. Kittridge St., where the wounded boy was found, and later dumped Manuel’s body. She was reported missing on Dec. 24. Two days later, her body was found outside an apartment complex in the Gateway-Green Valley Ranch neighborhood.

The release said that, before Hollie was sentenced, Manuel’s mother, Pamela Jackson, shared some words about her daughter.

“Tayanna is, and was, a beautiful, loving, caring human being, and to know her was to love her,” Jackson told the judge.

“By all accounts, Tayanna was a wonderful young woman with a promising future. Her death was a terrible tragedy, and my heart goes out to all who knew and loved her,” Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in the release. “I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates in my office, as well as the detectives with the Denver Police Department, for their work on this case.”

Before his sentencing, Hollie was facing up to 80 years behind bars.

He was first charged with: