3 of 5 defendants plead guilty in deadly 2021 crime spree

Three of five defendants have pleaded guilty in a deadly crime spree that spanned three cities in August 2021. The crime spree included Denver, Aurora and Lakewood and left Shmuel Silverberg, 18, dead. 

Noah Loepp-Hall, Seth LaRhode and Aden Sides all entered guilty pleas in connection with the crime spree and deadly shooting. 

Loepp-Hall, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. LaRhode, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and theft. Sides, 22, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury and to kidnapping. All are scheduled to be sentenced May 31 at 1:30 p.m.

The other two defendants in the case, Isaiah Freeman and Samuel Fussell, are facing several charges in the case, including first-degree murder and kidnapping. 

Prosecutors said the crime spree spanned from East Colfax to Lakewood that began on Aug. 15, 2021 with a carjacking from a parking lot at 15296 E. Hampden Ave. where the victim was homeless and sleeping in his car. The violent crime spree continued for days.

The fatal shooting Aug. 17, 2021 was outside of the Yeshiva Toras Chaim Talmudical Seminary near West Colfax Avenue and North Stuart Street. Shmuel Silverberg, a student there, was shot and killed after the suspects approached him.

Another shooting victim, Thomas Young, was robbed, beaten and shot and then left for dead.

Denver police said all five men met at a youth correctional facility in Golden.