The Murder of Sandra JoAnn Rushing, June 1979
Sandra JoAnn Rushing was born on August 27, 1960 in Denver, CO to parents Joe Bailey Rushing Jr and Shirley Joan Rushing (nee Otey). Sandra's mom's side of the family was from Denver, while her father's side was from Abilene, TX.
Sandra had two older siblings, sister Brenda Kay Tate (nee Rushing) and brother Terry Joe Rushing. Brenda was a little less than four years older than Sandra, as she was born in late 1956. Terry was born in late September 1959, making him eleven months older than Sandra; despite this, the two of them were in the same grade in high school. This is likely because Sandra's birth date was on the cusp of the cut off; she was only seventeen years old when she graduated.
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| Sandra's 1978 Lakewood High School senior yearbook photo. |
In March 1979, when she was 18 years old, Sandra gave birth to a son, Brandon Joe Rushing. I could not find information on his paternal side or the circumstances of his birth.
Sandra and Brandon lived with the former's parents and older brother Terry at 908 S. Routt Court in Lakewood.
Sandra also had a boyfriend at the time of her death, though he has not been publicly identified, and sources are vague and/or contradictory regarding whether Brandon's father was Sandra's current — as of June 1979 — boyfriend or an ex. She planned to attend Red Rocks Community College in the fall.
Sandra's older sister Brenda had married a man named William in 1976. In 1979 the couple were also living in Lakewood, specifically at 1375 Everett Ct Apt 206, an about eleven minute drive northeast of the Rushing residence.
Sandra's maternal grandmother, as well as at least one of her aunts and said aunt's children (Sandra's cousins) also lived in Lakewood at the time.
The Morning
Early in the morning of Friday, June 15, 1979, Sandra's mother Shirley left the house to run errands. Sandra was still asleep at that time.
Sometime before 9:00am yet after her mother's departure, Sandra woke up and drove her sister Brenda to pick up the older woman's new car.
After dropping Brenda off, Sandra began to drive her sister's former car, a blue 1970 4-door AMC Rebel, back to her home at 908 S Routt Court. She planned to go back to bed once she was home.
The Crash
There were no witnesses to the following events, which occurred in seemingly rapid succession. The events have instead been reconstructed by investigators using evidence at the scene and testimony of people in the area who overheard.
Shortly before 9:00am, Sandra was driving east on West Kentucky Drive in Lakewood, only about 655 ft away from her intended destination, when "an unknown incident" occurred.
This incident caused Sandra to stop the car near the intersection of West Kentucky Drive and South Briarwood Drive, then rapidly begin to back up. Other citizens in nearby homes heard tires screeching, and tire tracks showed the path of the vehicle.
While the car was still in reverse, Sandra was shot once in the neck with a large caliber weapon. Several residents reported hearing a gunshot at about 9:00am.
Immediately following the shooting, the vehicle continued to travel a short distance backward before slamming into a pole or stop sign at the intersection of West Kentucky Dr and South Simms St and coming to a stop.
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Discovery
Very shortly after the gunshot was heard, another passing motorist discovered Sandra's car on the side of the road, with its back end against the stop sign. Looking inside the vehicle, the motorist found Sandra slumped over the steering wheel. Authorities were promptly called to the scene.
The first police officers on the scene reportedly believed that they were responding to a traffic accident. They arrived to find Sandra unconscious and covered in blood. According to The Rocky Mountain News, "It was not until [the responding officers] attempted to revive [Sandra] that they discovered" that she had been shot.
Sandra was rushed to St Anthony Hospital — then known as St Anthony Central Hospital — in Lakewood. She died about an hour after the shooting, at about 10:00am on Friday, June 15, 1979.
Investigation and Theories
Sandra had been shot once in the throat. There was a large bullet hole in the car's windshield. Law enforcement believed that the bullet hole — which matched the one in Sandra's throat — was, "made by either a rifle or 'a very large pistol.'"
Considering the fact that Sandra had frantically reversed her car — as well as (possibly) considering the bullet's trajectory — Sgt Peter Palmer of the Lakewood Department of Public Safety — founded in May 1970, and later renamed the Lakewood Police Department — believed that the victim saw her killer and tried to get away before she was shot.
The day after Sandra's death, it was reported that she, "was not married and had been experiencing problems in her personal life. [Sgt Palmer] didn't say whether those problems were related to the shooting." It was also stated that, "Police immediately began canvassing the neighborhood for clues or possible witnesses, but would not reveal their findings." This investigation led to the interviewing of residents who overheard some of the events.
Despite the above, from the onset of the investigation the police were, "working on the theory that [Sandra] knew the person who shot her." This was stressed further in the June 22, 1979 edition of The Rocky Mountain News: "Police say they are sure of one thing, however: that the shooting was a calculated murder, rather than a random sniping. [...] Police maintain the killer was an acquaintance of hers."
Sandra's parents, however, thought otherwise. According to that same edition of The Rocky Mountain News, Shirley Rushing, the victim's mother, stated the following:
"I just can't believe that anybody Sandy knew could be responsible for this. [...] She had a way of making everybody love her. She couldn't have had any enemies. That's why I can't believe it was someone she knew. I think what may have happened was that she saw something she wasn't supposed to see and was killed for it."
Police, however, believed the Rushings' theory didn't seem likely, as investigators, "wonder[ed] what a young woman could have seen on a normally peaceful, residential street at 9am that could have led someone to think she had to be killed."
On a 2013 blog post regarding the case, one user under the name Diane commented:
"I have always wondered since Sandy was driving her sister’s car and resembled her sister, if the shooter could have thought it was her sister instead."
The above theory seems plausible. It is also, in my opinion, possible that Sandra was killed by someone unknown to her for random reasons, i.e., someone who was looking to kill someone that day and/or decided on a whim to murder, such as a serial killer.
It is unknown what the current working theory is regarding Sandra's murder, as very little information has been provided to the public.
Aftermath
Sandra's death seems to have hit all of her loved ones hard. Her parents made pleas for information to the public in local newspapers. She was reportedly, "so sweet and lovable" and had a lot of friends. Her many family members, including her parents, siblings, and son, grieved her hard.
Sandra's son Brandon seems to have been raised by her parents, Shirley and Joe. She was said to have been a very loving and dedicated mother.
In addition to her family and friends' loss, Sandra's unnamed boyfriend also reportedly, "ha[d] found life extremely empty" by August 1979, and it was mentioned that, "It is a long, slow road to recovery from the shock of losing her as he [the boyfriend] did."
On August 27, 1979, on what would have been Sandra's twentieth birthday, her immediate family, as well as her aunt and cousins, posted two short messages in the "In Memoriam" section of The Rocky Mountain News, wishing her a happy birthday. Two similar messages expressing their grief and love for Sandra were posted by them again on June 15, 1981, the second anniversary of her death.
Conclusion
There is very little information
available about Sandra's murder. While she is in the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation (CBI)'s unsolved crimes database, she is not featured on
the Jefferson County Cold Cases page; this has been true since at least
2020, which is as far back as I could find on the Wayback Machine.
Anyone
with information regarding Sandra's murder is urged to please contact
the Lakewood Police Department at (303) 987-7210. The agency case number
is 79-46059. Any little piece of information counts.
Furthermore, according to the Lakewood PD's Cold Cases page, "If you have information about any of the listed unsolved murder and missing person cases, please contact the Cold Case Hotline at 303-987-7474" or by emailing coldcase@lakewoodco.org.
Sources and References
The Rocky Mountain News 6/16/79, 6/22/79
Obituary in The Rocky Mountain News 6/18/79
Obituary in The Abilene Reporter News 6/28/79
The Rocky Mountain News 8/15/79
In Memoriam section of The Rocky Mountain News 8/27/79, 6/15/81 (very bottom of each linked article)
2019 Lakewood PD Facebook post
Lakewood PD Cold Cases, archived
Lakewood Police Records - Cold Cases
Full archived Denver Post Blog article [Google Doc]
Note #1: The above Denver Post Blog article makes reference to actual newspaper articles published in The Denver Post in 1979 and 1980 concerning Sandra's murder. However, despite the knowledge of the articles' existence, as well as very extensive attempts on my part, I have been unable to find any editions of The Denver Post from the specified time range that can be accessed from my computer. I will be able to access newspaper microfilm loaned from libraries in Colorado by January 2026 at the earliest.
Note #2: This write-up was originally posted on June 27, 2025. However, I have found further sources since then, so I have updated this write-up accordingly and re-posted it.
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