Features, Writing

Gary Flakes, convicted in 1997 deaths of two teens, running for Colorado Springs council

Gary Flakes, who was convicted of being an accessory to murder in the 1997 shotgun slayings of two teenage boys in the Cheyenne Meadows neighborhood, announced he is running for Colorado Springs City Council. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)
Gary Flakes, who was convicted of being an accessory to murder in the 1997 shotgun slayings of two teenage boys in the Cheyenne Meadows neighborhood, announced he is running for Colorado Springs City Council. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)

COLORADO SPRINGS — Two pairs of teenage boys who didn’t know each other crossed paths the night of Valentine’s Day 1997.

It was a little after 11:30 that night when Andy Westbay, 13, and Scott Hawrysiak, 15, started their walk of less than two blocks along Canoe Creek Drive to Hawrysiak’s home after playing video games at a friend’s house.

Meanwhile, a white Mazda hatchback carrying Gary Flakes, 16, Jeron Grant, 17, and a loaded 12-gauge shotgun drove down the quiet residential street on Colorado Springs’ southwest side.