2025CR158

Victim: Zaria Hardee, 19, unhoused.

Suspect: Jimmy Leroy West, 52 at time of arrest, unhoused.

Charges: First-degree murder and sex trafficking in connection with Hardee’s death.

Key Witness: Nickolas Shepherd, 24 at time of unrelated arrest, unhoused.

Case Overview

Jimmy Leroy West was arrested in Boulder in January 2025 on charges of first-degree murder in connection with the death of 19-year-old Zaria Hardee, whose decomposing body was discovered on a bike trailer in July 2024.

Timeline of Events

July 2024 (approx.): Zaria Hardee, a young woman experiencing homelessness, went missing.

July 14, 2024: A bike trailer—sealed with blankets and tarps—is discovered near the 1800 block of Goss Street in Boulder by concerned neighbors. Inside, authorities found Zaria’s badly decomposed body.

Investigation: Law enforcement learned Zaria had visited Jimmy’s nearby encampment a few days prior. West claimed the trailer and blankets were stolen, but surveillance footage contradicted this—showing him riding the bike after Zaria’s disappearance. Investigators also uncovered rope, tape, and tent material at Jimmy’s camp consistent with items used to bind and conceal her body.

January 2025: After several weeks of investigation and interviews—especially with individuals who knew Zaria, like Nickolas Shepherd—police issued an arrest warrant for Jimmy West. He was arrested near Boulder’s Civic Park by members of the Homeless Outreach Team, recognized from wanted posters.

Jimmy West is currently awaiting trial.

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Brooke Stephenson of the Boulder Reporting Lab is our main source of real-time non profit reporting on this Boulder County homicide case. We've provided direct links to some those articles below. We have no affiliation with the publication or its organization, but we appreciate their hard work and independent coverage of the case!

July 17, 2025

Jury trial in Zaria Hardee murder case set to begin December 5, 2025 in Boulder

January 31, 2025

Officials say 19-year-old Zaria was sex trafficked before she was ultimately murdered 

January 30, 2025

Boulder police arrest suspect in the murder of 19-year old Zaria Hardee