FREELANCE INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALIST
RELENTLESS.
I persistently weave data, records and research into a compelling narrative designed to pull readers and viewers in.
My award-winning investigative data work has led to changes in laws and policies, exposed an international human trafficking ring, inspired the American Civil Liberties Union to sue Denver Police, prompted a Congressional inquiry, and compelled a sheriff’s office to fire a troublesome deputy.
Work Samples
More than 100 Colorado nursing homes that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks were fined for poor infection control and other pandemic-related failures — but those very same facilities also pocketed financial bonuses tied to infection rates.
I spent months merging and analyzing three datasets with SQL, creating maps in ArcGIS, collecting inspection reports and interviewing whistleblowers/family members.
The story won a 2022 regional Emmy and prompted a Congressional inquiry.
After an ordinance intended to wipe out illicit massage parlors in Aurora, Colorado was passed, I found they were able to easily reopen across city lines. I did this through a series of records requests from Aurora and connected the locations through business filings. The series was published in August 2019.
In August 2020, the Denver district attorney announced an international human trafficking investigation built off our findings. Seven people and 12 businesses were indicted on 33 charges by a grand jury. 14 women were freed because of the investigation.
In July 2021, Denver City Council unanimously passed a bill requiring massage businesses in Denver to be licensed in an effort to prevent human trafficking.
Millions of Americans are caregivers for loved ones and are often children. This documentary followed families across the nation as they helped their veterans heal.
I handled logistics and ensured the success of shoots across the country from Alaska to Hawaii as a volunteer on this non-profit project. I requested and managed Freedom of Information Act requests.
The documentary is streaming on Peacock, a NBCUniversal platform. A rough cut of the documentary aired in the Kennedy Center in November 2019.
Colorado’s “red flag” law gives police officers and average citizens alike the power to seek the removal of guns from people they believe are dangerous – but I found the chances that will actually happen depend largely on who’s asking. Red flag applications are approved 95% of the time if police step in. If Coloradans filed on their own, the approval rate dipped to 32%
I spent months working in R, SQL and Excel to do this novel data analysis. I found someone that fought to get a red flag order placed on their brother and convinced them to go on-camera. They were the focus of this story.
There were calls to expand the law after our story and the Club Q shooting. The law expanded to include other professions like teachers, district attorneys and social workers.
The Denver police department's SWAT team searched Ruby Johnson’s home, where she has lived for 40 years, looking for a car, guns and cash that had been stolen from a downtown Denver hotel days earlier.
They did not find anything, but did traumatize Johnson. The story prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to sue the detective that created the warrant.
I broke these stories and other outlets later followed. I conducted a months-long investigation into Denver Police SWAT knock-and-announce warrants and found that they occur more often in minority neighborhoods.
I went undercover in gun stores across Colorado and discovered blatant disregard for a law banning the sale of large-capacity magazines. I analyzed six years of judicial records and discovered 128 people have been charged and 12 sentenced for violating the large-capacity magazine ban.
Finally, I managed the records process with police departments across the state. I discovered that the Idaho Springs Police Department accidentally returned two 70-round magazines back to a man who pled guilty to breaking the law. The series aired in November 2019.