Investigators say a dispatcher warned a married couple to stop following a pickup before gunshots were captured on the call.

GOLDEN, Colo. — A recorded 911 call made during an alleged vehicle pursuit has become a central piece of evidence in a Jefferson County murder case against a husband and wife accused in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old passenger after a nighttime traffic collision.

Steven Cole Simpson, 25, is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation and attempted first-degree murder after deliberation in the death of Andrew Luke Bott. Corryn Simpson, 26, is charged with first-degree murder as an accessory. Prosecutors say the July 25 encounter began with a collision on South Santa Fe Drive and developed within minutes into a pursuit through southwest metro Denver. Authorities allege Steven Simpson continued following a Ford F-150 despite a dispatcher telling the BMW’s occupants to stop, and that shots were fired during the chase. The charges are accusations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The sequence began shortly before 10:30 p.m. when investigators say the Ford F-150 became involved in a collision near West Belleview Avenue and South Santa Fe Drive. Accounts in the arrest affidavit and later prosecution records describe the white BMW X5 occupied by the Simpsons as one of the vehicles affected by the crash. The pickup continued away from the area. Corryn Simpson called Littleton police and reported the collision while the BMW followed the truck west toward Bowles Avenue. During that call, she gave dispatchers the pickup’s license plate number. The dispatcher directed the BMW’s occupants to stop pursuing the truck, according to investigators, but authorities say the vehicles continued toward the Grant Ranch neighborhood.

The 911 recording gave detectives a contemporaneous account from inside the BMW. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Steven Simpson could be heard making a threatening statement before the sound of two gunshots. Colorado Public Radio, citing the arrest affidavit, reported that the statement was, “he’s going to die.” Prosecutors allege Simpson fired multiple rounds toward the pickup as the vehicles were moving through the neighborhood. The recording does not by itself establish who fired a weapon, but investigators have cited it alongside camera records, witness statements and evidence seized later under search warrants. Those materials formed the basis of the arrests and criminal charges announced in the following days.

At about 10:32 p.m., only minutes after Corryn Simpson’s call began, Jefferson County deputies were sent toward West Dorado Avenue and Grant Ranch Boulevard because of a separate 911 hang-up call. When dispatchers called back, the Ford’s driver told them another vehicle had been chasing his truck and that someone had fired at it. He said Bott, who was in the passenger seat, had been hit. The driver was instructed to go to the parking lot at Columbine High School, where deputies and other responders met the truck and began emergency treatment. Bott was taken to Littleton Adventist Hospital. Authorities said he died from the gunshot injury.

The pickup driver later gave investigators an account of the moments immediately before the shooting. According to the arrest affidavit as reported by CBS Colorado, he said he and Bott had been traveling from a Denver bar when the driving confrontation developed. He told police that a white SUV moved alongside the truck and that Bott warned him about a gun shortly before the driver heard shots. Investigators also recovered two spent 9 mm cartridge casings from an intersection along the route. That account remains part of the prosecution’s evidence rather than a finding of guilt, and the public record does not establish that every disputed detail of the encounter has been resolved.

Detectives then worked backward through the two vehicles’ movements. The sheriff’s office said investigators used witness interviews, the 911 recordings, surveillance video and Flock Safety license-plate reader information. Prosecutors said camera data showed the BMW and the Ford entering and leaving the Grant Ranch area within seconds of one another. The technology helped investigators compare the statements given after the shooting with an independently recorded trail of where the vehicles had traveled. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley told Colorado Public Radio that the camera information and the 911 call were important in developing the case. Authorities have said they found no indication of a prior relationship between the occupants of the two vehicles.

Investigators also interviewed Steven and Corryn Simpson. According to reports based on the arrest affidavits, both told police they stopped following the Ford after the dispatcher instructed them to do so and then went home. Steven Simpson reportedly told investigators he did not know of a gun being involved. Detectives continued collecting records and obtained warrants to search the couple’s vehicle and Highlands Ranch residence. The prosecution’s case therefore includes not only what investigators say was captured during the pursuit but also the question of whether later statements by the Simpsons were consistent with the electronic and physical evidence police collected.

Searches produced several firearms and ammunition. Prosecutors said investigators seized three 9 mm handguns from the Simpsons’ home and vehicle, along with ammunition and other evidence. CBS Colorado, citing the arrest affidavit, reported that investigators also found a SIG Sauer holster, a live cartridge described as the same type as casings collected from the shooting scene, two 9 mm SIG Sauer P365 pistols, a 9 mm Beretta 92X and a 9 mm rifle. The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office said firearms, projectiles, gunshot-residue samples and other items were submitted for forensic examination. Early reports said laboratory testing had not yet been completed, so the presence of firearms and similar ammunition should not be treated as a completed ballistic match.

The formal charges distinguish between the allegations against the two defendants. Steven Simpson faces a Class 1 felony count of first-degree murder after deliberation and a Class 2 felony count of attempted first-degree murder after deliberation. The attempted-murder charge concerns the alleged gunfire directed toward the occupied Ford in addition to the fatal shot that authorities say struck Bott. Corryn Simpson faces a Class 4 felony accusation of being an accessory to first-degree murder. Authorities have not accused her of firing the fatal shot. The accessory charge instead concerns alleged conduct tied to the underlying crime and its aftermath, which prosecutors would have to prove under Colorado law.

Steven and Corryn Simpson were arrested July 29 after investigators identified them as the occupants of the BMW. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office initially announced a first-degree murder allegation against Steven Simpson and an accessory allegation against his wife. Prosecutors filed the more detailed charges in early August. The district attorney’s office also released the case numbers, 2026CR001475 for Steven Simpson and 2026CR001476 for Corryn Simpson, and stressed that criminal charges are formal accusations rather than proof of guilt.

An Aug. 5 announcement from the district attorney’s office said both defendants were scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 2. The reliable public sources reviewed for this report did not provide a later official account of that hearing or a final forensic determination linking a particular recovered firearm to the casings from the scene. The case therefore remains defined publicly by the allegations in the charging documents and arrest investigation: a collision, a continued pursuit despite a dispatcher’s warning, gunfire captured on an emergency call and a second 911 call from a truck whose passenger had been mortally wounded.

Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.