Family of 16th Street Mall stabbing victim: “Fight for our city to be safe”

Nick Burkett’s family huddled together in the cold, passing a bouquet, candles and laminated sheet of photos between them as they created a makeshift memorial on Denver’s 16th Street Mall on Friday afternoon.

It has been only a few days since a detective called Carol Cortez to tell her that her son had been killed in a stabbing during the weekend, and Cortez said she thinks she’s still in shock.

Burkett was homeless and struggled with his mental health and drugs, and his mom last heard from him about a month ago, just before Christmas.

“We wanted to see what he was last doing on this Earth, what he might have been up to down here,” she said.

Cortez stood between Burkett’s father, Wayne, and sister, Maxine, near the mall’s intersection with Wazee Street, where Denver police say the 34-year-old was fatally stabbed Sunday night.

Elijah Caudill, 24, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault in the stabbings that also killed 71-year-old flight attendant Celinda Levno and wounded two men.

“It’s terrifying to think about what happened to him and what he went through in his last moments,” Wayne Burkett said. “To come down here and be at the spot where it happened, it’s surreal.”

Nick Burkett was funny and obnoxious, hyper and outspoken. He loved art and music and didn’t care much what other people thought about him.

But he also struggled, and his family said they think he was targeted because drug misuse had made him frail.

Burkett’s death also echoes broader issues facing Denver, such as homelessness and public safety, his family said Friday.

“We really have to fight for our city to be safe,” Maxine Burkett said. “I want to bring my kids down here. I want other families to be able to bring their kids down here without feeling like something’s going to happen.”

Nick Burkett’s parents and sister said they hope to find more ways to help people who are homeless.

“I guarantee you every single person on these streets has someone who loves them and cares about them and wishes they could take the right steps,” Maxine Burkett said. “They’re not worthless.”

“He meant a lot to us,” Carol Cortez added. “He was important. He wasn’t just a throwaway person.”