Kathleen Garcia had just finished working a graveyard shift from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., plus an additional hour of overtime.
Kathleen Garcia, 24
She and partner William Stoops patrolled an area bracketed by Federal and Sheridan boulevards from West 38th to West 52nd Avenues. Stoops was a veteran officer, assigned to train Garcia.
Garcia and Stoops had taken a late emergency call and didn’t check out of the District 1 police station at 2195 Decatur St. until 4:09, according to a news article by now-retired police reporter Harry Gessing, who had worked at The Denver Post for decades.
The 24-year-old rookie had been on the job for six weeks, having graduated from the Denver Police Training Academy on Feb. 6, 1981.
Garcia was a good worker, who was well liked and had nothing but good reports, Capt. Don Mulnix, who supervised Denver police detectives, told Gessing.
Garcia was a very idealistic police recruit, who had always dreamed of becoming a police officer. She was very serious about her work and didn’t complain about difficult hours or a challenging patrol area.
She was still dressed in her crisp new police uniform when she drove into the South Denver neighborhood where she had grown up and attended South High School.
Garcia was still living with her folks and three of her five sisters at 2398 S. Galapago, but had recently rented an apartment and was planning to move into the apartment in three days.
It hadn’t been that long since she had paid a lot of money for a large quantity of supplies she needed to enforce the law and to protect the public and herself.
Garcia had purchased a night stick, two guns, a flashlight and a leather holster and belt.
Garcia was proud of her accomplishments, her mother would tell Gessing.
After driving home early that morning, Garcia parked on the West Wesley Avenue side of her home about 20 feet from the front gate and opened her car door. It was 4:26 a.m. Saturday morning, March 28, 1981.
Someone darted up to her out of the darkness. There was a loud, brief argument, then a struggle.