COLORADO CITY — A rare shooting death in the north Mohave County community of Colorado City has resulted in a 5-year prison term for James Nielsen of St. George, Utah. The punishment was stipulated in a plea agreement convicting the 28-year-old defendant of manslaughter in the death almost a year ago of Travis Cooke in Cooke’s home at 480 Lauritzen Street in Colorado City.
Nielsen was initially charged with second-degree murder but attorneys crafted the lesser-included conviction into the plea deal. Few details of the 1 a.m. April 24, 2025 deadly encounter were released by police and minimum information was revealed in the few hearings that led to the March 27 sentencing hearing.
Judge Billy Sipe noted that he met with attorneys in chambers prior to sentencing to learn more about why a second-degree murder charge was reduced to manslaughter with prison punishment limited to 5 years. He said that the state apparently had some issues with its case.
Nelsen attorney Mark Barlow said conviction was iffy had the matter gone to trial. “We do believe there are some legitimate claims of self-defense or defense of others,” Barlow said.
Nielsen offered apology to family of the victim.
“If I could change anything, I would,” Nelsen said. “I understand I didn’t make the best decisions that day.”
Dave Hawkins
