After spending nearly 20 years bravely battling cancer, a Colorado mom’s inspiring fight for life came to a tragic end when bullets blasted through the window of her home, killing her as she was once again undergoing chemotherapy.
In the quiet town of Berthoud, Colorado – about 50 miles north of Denver – a community is grappling with the heartbreaking loss of a woman who had already beaten impossible odds. Jennifer James, a 49-year-old single mother of four, was a warrior who survived cancer not once – but four times.
Sadly, it wasn’t illness that claimed her life, but a senseless and tragic shooting that has left her family and neighbors in shock.
‘Bravely battling cancer yet again’
On April 28, 2025, just before 11:20 p.m., the single mom was in her home when a bullet fired through her window, striking her arm and chest, police say.
Before she collapsed and died, James managed to call 911, letting them know that she had been shot.
When first responders arrived at her home, James – who according to reports was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer – was already dead.
“She was bravely battling cancer yet again at the time that she was taken from us,” writes Juliána King, who organized a GoFundMe campaign to support James’ four kids – two that were reportedly home at the time she was killed.
“Jennifer was the epitome of sunshine. Anyone who knew her thought of her as the nicest person they had known,” King shared.
‘Put me in jail’
On May 1, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office announced that 20-year-old Ebenezer Worku was arrested in connection with the shooting.
According to the affidavit published by Fox affiliate, KDVR News, Worku – who said he suffers from “homicidal schizophrenia – had stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road where James’ lived while he tried to clean the gun that his “adopted uncle” had given him for his April 11 birthday.
Then he “accidentally” fired it – twice – out of the driver’s window toward a house.
Not realizing anyone had been hurt, Worku claimed he was frightened and drove away, “turning his headlights off to avoid drawing attention.”
After learning he killed someone, the police report explains he appeared to be in emotional distress.
“I did it, and I’m getting punished for it…put me in jail,” he said, reportedly requesting the death sentence.
After confessing to the shooting, Worku was immediately arrested and charged with first-degree murder under the classification of “extreme indifference.” He was booked into the Larimer County Jail, where he now faces a staggering $1.25 million cash-only bond as the investigation moves forward.
‘Most selfless mom’
Meanwhile the small town is mourning the loss of a woman who had already defied the odds four times by beating cancer – only to have her incredible fight for life tragically ended by bullets fired into her own home by a stranger she never even met.
“It just makes me mad that such a senseless act of violence occurred, and you never think that’s going to happen to you,” James’ oldest daughter, Ashley James, said in an interview with KDVR.
“She was the most selfless mom that anyone could ask for. She kind of devoted her whole life to us kids, so I’ll be forever grateful for everything that she did for us,” Ashley said, adding her mother raised all four children on her own.
‘Cruel joke’
“My mom was a single mom of 4 of us kids. She was a four-time breast cancer survivor,” Ashley wrote in a statement shared with 9News. “It feels like a cruel joke that she was taken from us in such a senseless and violent way, when she did nothing but fight for her life since she was 29-years-old. She never once complained about her treatments in those 20 years. She was the most selfless mom and did everything for us kids. Her resiliency is something that I have always admired and is something that I hope to carry on in her memory.”
As Berthoud gathered to honor James’ life on May 14, they didn’t just remember the tragedy that took her away – they remembered the fierce love she had for her children, the battles she fought and won, and the light she brought to everyone around her.
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