Family vows protection for late-shift employees

It was through a tearful plea to the community that the family of slain bartender Shelly Lokken is asking that safety measures be increased for late-night workers.

They want ordinances in place to ensure the protection of employees of convenience stores, restaurants and bars that all too frequently are the targets of crime.

During a news conference Tuesday, the family vowed to do all they could to prevent other graveyard shift workers from suffering the way Shelly did the early-morning hours of May 5 when she was bound and shot execution style with a single bullet in the back of her head while on duty at Doc Holliday's tavern at Westcliff and Durango drives.

Charles Randolph, 31, is facing murder and robbery charges in connection with Lokken's death. Charges are pending against a 41-year-old man who police believe was Randolph's accomplice and waited outside in the car.

Randolph appeared in Justice Court today for an arraignment, but it was postponed until Friday.

"I hope he gets the death penalty," Shelly's father, Fred Lokken, said. "I hope there is severe suffering."

"Anytime she worked the graveyard shift, she was concerned because of the things that had gone on," her mother, Joyce Lokken, said while clutching the arm of her husband through sobs. Nearby were Shelly's sister, Connie Lokken-Bernard, and brother, Scott Lokken.

"She said she only had a couple of weeks left and she was going on day shift."

The family said Lokken was unnerved by recent robberies at the bar, but the bar was the single mother's main source of income to support her 8-year-old daughter, both of whom were captured in a framed photo propped up in a maroon leather chair during the news conference.

"They should not make anyone work by themselves," as Lokken had been that night, Fred Lokken said.

The Lokkens would not comment upon the degree to which they hold Doc Holliday's responsible for their relative's death.

The family intends to see that laws change so that no graveyard shift worker is ever on duty alone. They also asked Tuesday that companies such as Doc Holliday's, "which profit tremendously" by being open during late-night hours, provide armed security guards.

Security measures installed by the business included a video surveillance camera, which the robber is believed to have removed, and a buzzer at the door.

"Unless someone was wearing a mask or carrying a shotgun, how would a bartender know not to let that person in?" asked the family's attorney, Gary Lipsman.

"It's a horrendous thing we are going through and we don't want to have this happen to anyone else," Joyce Lokken said.

The Lokkens extended their thanks to Metro Police for their efforts in handling the case, and to the citizens who have donated to the fund set up for young Brett, whom Shelly was raising alone. The family said the child's father has not been involved with Brett for seven of the past eight years.

U.S. Bank account number 8166021512 remains open for donations assisting the family with Brett's care. The family said Tuesday the youngster was doing as well as could be expected given the circumstances and was expected to return to school today.

archive