Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers arrest James Neal; What did he do to Centennial, Colorado’s Michael Lohmeier?

Michael Lohmeier of Centennial, Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States has died. He was 73.

In 1968, Lohmeier graduated from Limon High School in Limon, Lincoln County, Colorado. He has five siblings and two sons.

Lohmeier owned a 2009 Toyota Highlander. At around 12:25 p.m. on November 4, 2023, he was found dead in the car in a parking lot near Park Meadows Mall on South Yosemite Street in Lone Tree, Douglas County, Colorado. 

According to the Lone Tree Police Department, Lohmeier died of a gunshot wound. He was fatally shot allegedly by James Matthew Neal, 23.

On November 27, 2023, Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers arrested Neal in Niobrara County, Wyoming, USA for an offense not related to Lohmeier’s murder. The suspect is being held in Goshen County, Wyoming.

James Matthew Neal, a suspect in the November 4 murder of Michael Lohmeier, has been found and arrested in Wyoming.

Thank you to everyone who shared our posts and called the Lone Tree Police Department and Crime Stoppers with information. https://t.co/iEdBziDDZX

— City of Lone Tree (@CityofLoneTree) November 27, 2023

Neal was charged with first-degree murder, motor vehicle theft and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. Whether or not he and Lohmeier knew each other is unclear.

In November 2020, Neal pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in El Paso County District Court in Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. He was sentenced to three years in the Colorado Department of Corrections in Colorado Springs but he was given credit for the 162 days he had already spent in jail.

On April 12, 2023, Neal was released onto parole. He was set to be released from parole on April 12, 2025.