The Rev. Leon Kelly often tells a cautionary tale of two Michaels who grew up in Denver in the 1980s -- one ended up in an early grave and the other will be sworn in Monday as Denver's 45th mayor.
"It is a story about choices," said Kelly, the executive director of Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives who has worked with tens of thousands of inner-city youth to help them stay away from gangs.
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Michael Hancock and Michael Asberry were born in the same year and grew up in the same northeast Denver neighborhood.
They knew each other. Were friends. Lived through similar hard times.