The probable cause hearing for the man accused of fatally shooting two brothers in a road rage incident two months ago will now happen in October, amid assertions from those close to the suspect that he acted in self-defense and demands for prosecutors to drop the charges.

Denver District Court Judge Ericka Englert agreed Friday to reschedule 25-year-old Stephan Long’s preliminary hearing on two first-degree murder charges until Oct. 18, in a brief hearing packed with family members of both Long and the victims, 22-year-old Damon and 21-year-old Blake Lucas.

Stephen Long charged with first-degree murder in connection with road-rage shootings

Prosecutors present evidence at preliminary hearings to a judge, who determines if there’s enough to send the case to trial. 

The victims’ mother previously told The Denver Gazette the brothers were on their way to a job interview Damon had scheduled. She said they were not armed.

According to police, the shooting happened between West 6th Avenue and West 8th Avenue in the northbound lanes of Interstate 25 just before 3 p.m. on June 13. The two cars had stopped in one lane of I-25, directly underneath West 6th Avenue.

The passenger got out and approached Long, police said. Long allegedly then shot him. His brother then approached Long, who began to drive away, but the victim grabbed onto his car. Long allegedly fired several shots as he drove off the highway at West 8th Avenue, hitting the second victim and causing him to fall off the car, according to police.

Long did not call 911 and fled the scene, according to an arrest affidavit.

According to Long’s reported statements, one of the victims allegedly instigated the confrontation. Long told a detective that he was driving on I-25 when a vehicle drove up next to him and someone inside began yelling at him. Long told police that the car then cut him off. Long said the passenger got out of the car, approached, grabbed him and hit him through the open window. Long reportedly told detectives he then shot that man.

Investigating officers found no injuries on Long. 

An on-duty Denver police detective in an unmarked police vehicle happened to be driving on the highway and heard the gunshots, according to police. He saw Long driving away and followed him. The detective also coordinated with other officers, and Long was arrested without incident near West 13th Avenue.

'Undeniable, heartbreaking crisis of gun violence' in metro Denver

Long’s supporters have also decried the $1,000,000 bond set for him, and asked Denver District Attorney Beth McCann to reduce his bail to a personal recognizance bond. Long has remained in jail since his arrest. His family and friends said at a rally Thursday they believe a White defendant with a similar background — a father, college-educated and working, who possessed his firearm legally — would not have been treated as harshly in the charging or bail decisions.

“His community will stand behind him now, and his community will stand behind him in the future,” Alexander Landau said at a rally Thursday outside the Wellington E. Webb municipal building. Landau is a longtime activist and founder of the Denver Justice Project.

Long’s mother, Stephanie Clifton, said she believes he was victimized that day by the brothers and again by a justice system she said has treated him unfairly because he is Black.

“If my son were white and two non-white men attacked him, he likely would not be in jail,” Clifton told supporters at the rally. “He may never have even been arrested. I can’t put it into words, but I hope you can try to imagine how it feels, as a mother, to have my son become another statistic.”

The Denver Gazette has reached out to the victims’ mother, but she did not respond by press time.

Damon and Blake’s father, Arthur Lucas, told Denver7 he doesn’t believe Long claiming self-defense is logical. He said he thinks at least one first-degree murder charge is appropriate.

“For the other one, okay, maybe involuntary manslaughter because yes, he [Blake] did jump out of the car first. You know, I’m a logical person, I don’t think, ‘Oh my god, this man [Long] needs to die’,” Arthur said, according to Denver7. “The second one [Damon] was just trying to stop a man from fleeing the scene, as far as I know, and running to his brother’s aide.”

No bail for man arrested in fatal Denver road rage shooting; victims identified

McCann came out to watch the rally and met with a handful of members of Long’s family and activists in her office afterward. A spokesperson said McCann has told Long’s family his bail won’t be reduced to a personal recognizance bond, as is their wish, but that her office will continue to evaluate the bond situation and the case in general.

“My office evaluates each case strictly on its merits and based on whether we believe we can prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” McCann said about the initial charging decision for Long. “That is exactly what we did in this case.”

A Change.org petition created on behalf of the brothers says Long should have stopped and called police if he truly acted in self-defense. Asked about statements in Long’s arrest affidavit that he did neither, Landau said Long may have been concerned most about his immediate safety and calling 911 in the moment may have seemed like a minute detail.

“I don’t think he should be ridiculed for not calling 911 first,” Landau said. “After something like that, what was probably going through his mind was, ‘I just prevented myself from getting seriously injured.’ After that type of trauma, it takes a minute to process.”

Denver road rage incident leaves two brothers dead, suspect claims victims attacked him