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Victims In Home Invasion Case Describe Frightening Night

LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - Two women who were forced to barricade themselves inside a room during a home invasion say the crime has left them forever changed.

The crime happened on March 26 in Littleton. Tonya Granderson and her 18-year-old niece Jada Riggins were in Granderson's apartment when a knife-wielding stranger appeared on their back patio. Police have identified the man as Kevin Krieger.

kevin-krieger
Kevin Krieger (credit: Littleton Police Dept.)

"He was screaming he was going to crucify us. 'I'm going to crucify you,'" Granderson said.

The man began to kick on the glass doors so Granderson grabbed Riggins and they locked themselves in a bedroom and called 911.

Seconds later the man got inside.

"As soon as I get in the bedroom I heard all the glass shatter," she said.

The man then began pounding on the bedroom door.

"His intent was to kill us," Granderson told CBS4.

911 tapes obtained by CBS4 convey the urgency of the situation at that point.

Suspect: Open the door!
Caller: No!
Suspect: Open the door!
Caller: Stop it! I don't even know who you are!

The man then tried to kick the bedroom door in. His first kick shattered the lock as the two women frantically pushed back from the other side.

"The door would give a little bit and I would shove it back closed. But really there was nothing left of that door. It was just shattered," Granderson said.

"Through the door you could smell the alcohol. I remember that," Riggins told CBS4.

With the door hanging by a thread, police arrived.

"He was still kicking the door when they came in. He didn't stop," Riggins said.

"One of them tackled him. I remember seeing the knife and thinking 'If they hadn't have gotten here when they did, who knows what would have happened?"

Granderson says she has hardly been able to sleep since the incident. She says she's planning to move out soon to avoid the frightening reminders of what happened.

"There is evil out there. If it weren't for God's mercy and grace we would not be here. We would not be here," she said.

Krieger faces several charges in the case, including burglary, assault menacing and criminal mischief. if convicted of all charges he faces up to 12 years in prison.

He also has had other run-ins with the law, including being arrested for crimes ranging from drug possesion to theft.

Granderson said she wants the suspect to be punished severely.

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