WARRANT SECURED

Police Say Teen Shot In 'Drug Deal Gone Bad'

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Castaway was supposed to be home baby-sitting his
kid sister Friday night.

But Charlie pleaded with his mom - he'd already watched his sister each
night last week. Friday was his friend's birthday, and they wanted to go
out and celebrate on University Hill.

Valerie Lee Peterson let her son go - only to learn hours later that he'd
been fatally shot while riding in the back of a stolen Honda Civic, the
culmination of what police dubbed a "drug deal gone bad."

"He was such a good kid," a tearful Peterson said Saturday night from her
Lafayette home. "They liked to go to the Hill and bum around. He's just
getting to the period where he likes to look at girls.

"This is such a huge loss."

As Peterson mourned her son's death - likely to be ruled Boulder's sixth
homicide this year - police secured a warrant for the arrest of a former
Oakland, Calif., resident who detectives believe fired the fatal shot.

Antoine Alfonso Davires Harris, 21, is wanted on a single charge of
second-degree murder. His bond was set by a Boulder judge late Saturday at
$500,000.

Investigators said the slaying, which occurred just before 8 p.m. Friday at
13th Street and Euclid Avenue, appears to have stemmed from a drug deal
that turned into a robbery.

"It was a drug rip, not a drive-by," Detective Jane Harmer said, declining
to elaborate.

Peterson, who home-schooled her son, said she doesn't think the boy was
involved in drugs. She said her son and his friends might simply have been
in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I've heard just so many things flying around," she said. "I just don't
know how it happened."

By late Friday, police had identified Harris as the owner of a 1979
Chevrolet Caprice that an off-duty Nederland police officer saw on U.S. 36
just after the shooting, hurtling toward Denver at about 100 mph.

Detectives traced Harris to a Denver address, where he had moved to earlier
in the summer. But after watching the home all night, they learned that he
had moved out in the last few weeks, officers said.

Now they fear Harris may be headed home.

"He still has family in Oakland. He may be on his way back," Detective
Cmdr. Joe Pelle said.

At the time of the shooting, Castaway was riding with five other people,
including his 20-year-old brother Martin, in the Honda. The car was stolen
in Utah during the summer and "apparently has exchanged hands a few times,"
Pelle said.

The Honda's driver was following the blue Chevrolet Caprice on Euclid just
west of 13th Street, police said, when the Caprice's driver reached his arm
out the window and fired a .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

The bullet entered the Honda through the windshield and struck Castaway in
the chest. The Honda's driver continued around the block and stopped in
front of the Fox Theatre to call for help.

Castaway was taken to Boulder Community Hospital, where he was pronounced
dead. Boulder County Coroner John Meyer is scheduled to perform an autopsy
today.

The teen, described by his mother as an avid skateboarder, had no criminal
record, police officials said, although some of the Honda's other
passengers, whom detectives did not identify, have had run-ins with the law.

The slain teen's parents, too, have been arrested a number of times -
including on drug-related allegations.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show Martin D. Castaway, 44, has
been arrested a dozen times since 1987 on charges ranging from assault to
burglary to drunken driving.

He couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.

Anderson has been arrested on assault and child neglect charges, although
those cases ultimately were dismissed, according to court records.

In 1987, the both parents were arrested after Lafayette police searched
their Simpson Street home, discovering marijuana and other drug-related
paraphernalia, according to a Daily Camera article.

Anderson, known at the time as Valerie Lee Montez, pleaded guilty to a
felony drug possession charge in exchange for the dismissal of two other
counts, according to records. Martin Castaway's charges were dismissed.

Investigators said they weren't sure whether any drugs were found in the
Honda. Detectives expect to receive a warrant to search the impounded
vehicle today.

Police haven't ruled out pursuing drug-related charges, but officials said
that's not their priority at the moment.

"That's one of those things that's a secondary concern," Pelle said.

Boulder police have asked that anyone encountering Harris immediately call
911. People with tips as to the suspect's whereabouts are encouraged to
call detectives at (303) 441-3330.

Harris' car is described as blue in color, with a faded roof and "custom"
wheels. It has a California license plate, 120ZNS. The car was contacted by
police during traffic stops in Wheatridge and Aurora within the last week.

Witnesses saw a female passenger, described as a short, heavy black woman,
with the assailant. She has not been identified.