Kevin Patterson

Kevin Eugene Patterson, a 62-year-old U.S. Army veteran, was a beloved family man and a respected member of the Colorado Springs community where he had lived for more than 25 years. Known as a loving father and husband, he enjoyed fishing and working on cars. His life was tragically cut short in September 2021 following a dispute that escalated to violence.

On the afternoon of September 9, 2021, a meeting at the Elks Lodge 473 on North Citadel Drive, located near the Citadel Mall, turned deadly. The Colorado Springs Police Department responded to a shooting at the lodge at approximately 3:45 p.m. and found two men with life-threatening gunshot wounds. The victims were identified as Kevin Patterson and 58-year-old James Love, both managers at the lodge. Both men were transported to a local hospital, but their injuries were too severe. They both succumbed to their wounds two days later, on September 11. The El Paso County Coroner’s Office confirmed their deaths, which marked the 23rd and 24th homicide investigations in Colorado Springs that year.

The investigation, led by the Colorado Springs Police Department's Homicide/Assault Unit, quickly identified a suspect: 43-year-old Lamar Frederick Taylor. Detectives learned that Taylor had a business relationship with Patterson and Love. For nearly a year, Taylor had been renting the kitchen at the Elks Lodge for his restaurant, Union Cuisine. According to lodge leadership and one of Taylor's former employees, the relationship had become strained. The meeting on September 9 was reportedly intended to address their differences, specifically regarding a sign for Taylor's business that Patterson and Love had taken down. A lodge leader stated the meeting went "drastically wrong."

According to the arrest warrant, the dispute in the kitchen escalated, and Taylor allegedly shot both Patterson and Love before grabbing a shotgun from his vehicle and firing at others outside the lodge. He then fled the state. The Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force joined the search, and on September 14, police obtained an arrest warrant for Taylor on two counts of first-degree murder. The search ended on September 17, 2021, when U.S. Marshals and Miami-Dade police arrested Taylor in a Miami suburb. He was extradited back to Colorado and booked into the El Paso County jail, where he was held without bond.

Taylor was charged with nine felonies, including two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Kevin Patterson and James Love, and several counts of attempted first-degree murder. After a series of pre-trial hearings, Taylor pleaded not guilty to all charges. His jury trial was scheduled for February 2023 in the 4th Judicial District Court.

Following the trial, a jury found Lamar Taylor guilty. An appeal of the judgment of conviction was later filed with the Colorado Court of Appeals. In a decision issued in March 2026, the appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finalizing the conviction. A GoFundMe campaign was established to help Kevin Patterson's family with expenses following his death. The case is now considered closed, with the perpetrator convicted and serving his sentence. Anyone with information who did not come forward during the initial investigation can still contact the Colorado Springs Police Department at (719) 444-7000 or the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (719) 634-STOP (7867).