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John Cruz Arizona Death Row

John Cruz was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents John Cruz was involved in a hit and run accident and when tracked down by police Cruz would sneak off and was followed by Officer Patrick Hardesty. During the chase John Cruz would shoot and kill Officer Patrick Hardesty. John Cruz was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

John Cruz 2021 Information

ASPC Florence, Central Unit
PO Box 8200
JOHN M. CRUZ 194940
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

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On May 26, 2003, Cruz murdered Officer Patrick Hardesty, an on-duty law enforcement officer with the Tucson Police Department. Officer Hardesty had responded to a traffic collision in which Cruz’s vehicle struck another vehicle. Cruz fled the scene and Officer Hardesty and other officers located him inside a nearby apartment. Cruz told the Officers that his name was Frank White and led the Officers to a vehicle parked outside the apartment complex to get identification. Instead of producing his identification, Cruz escaped, sneaking through a hole in a fence right next to the apartments. Officer Hardesty began chasing Cruz on foot while another officer ran back to his police car and drove in the direction that Officer Hardesty was chasing Cruz. Cruz shot and killed Officer Hardesty before the other officers arrived. Cruz fired four shots, including shots to the head and adbomen, from point-blank range.

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A Tucson jury has found John Montenegro Cruz guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Tucson police officer Patrick Hardesty. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Cruz showed very little emotion when the verdict was read Friday afternoon. It took jurors less than three hours to reach a guilty verdict. They deliberated for one hour Thursday and just over an hour Friday.

With 92 potential witnesses, and three weeks in the courtroom, jurors were convinced Cruz shot and killed Officer Hardesty. Nobody actually saw the shooting, but prosecutors linked him to the murder weapon.

“It didn’t surprise me,” said Hardesty’s brother Ed. “I expected the verdict. I sat through all the testimony. So there’s no doubt in my mind John Cruz is guilty.”

Other Tucson officers say they’re relieved, including the detective who was a key prosecution witness and the first person on the scene the day Hardesty died.

“Even with what they described as a mountain of evidence, there’s still in the back of your mind some concern the jury understands what happened that day, and they did,” said Det. Benjamin Waters.

Police Chief Richard Miranda praised prosecutors. He also said the trial took its emotional toll on officers. “It’s been almost two years since Patrick was killed and with time, your feelings get a little better in terms of him dying. But the last few weeks with the trial, we had to relieve those emotions. We’ve all had flashbacks to that day. We all had to relive the burial.”

The trial now moves into the punishment phase. Jurors will have to consider several factors in determining whether Cruz should get a death sentence. The jury has already decided on one aggravating factor: Officer Hardesty was gunned down in the line of duty. The defense will present mitigating factors against a death sentence; it plans to call as many as 15 witnesses when the sentencing phase begins next Tuesday. Those witnesses could include family, friends, and psychiatric experts. The defense will have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence — meaning more evidence than the prosecution — that Cruz does not deserve to die.

https://www.kold.com/story/2999817/cruz-found-guilty-of-killing-tpd-officer/

Leroy Cropper Arizona Death Row

Leroy Cropper was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for a prison murder. According to court documents Leroy Cropper was upset with a correctional guard after his cell was searched and he was placed on lock down status due to contraband found in his cell. Leroy Cropper working with two other inmates, Eugene Long and Joshua Brice, made a plan to kill the Officer. Leroy Cropper was able to get his hands on a metal shank and get out of his cell with help from the other inmates. Cropper would sneak up behind Officer Lumley and stabbed him twice in the neck. Leroy Cropper would be convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Leroy Cropper 2021 Information

ASPC Eyman, Browning Unit
PO Box 3400
LEROY D. CROPPER 091432
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

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On March 7, 1997, Cropper murdered Arizona Department of Corrections Officer Brent W. Lumley, stabbing him in the throat. The murder took place at the Arizona Department of Corrections Perryville/San Juan Unit, where Cropper was an inmate. Cropper committed the murder in response to being “locked down” after Officer Lumley found a knife and other contraband in his cell.

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On March 7, 1997, ADOC corrections officers at the Perryville State Prison in Goodyear, Arizona, discovered that some mops were missing from the Building 26 supply room. Officers Brent Lumley and Deborah Landsperger began searching for the missing mops in the nearby cells. They found no mops in the first cell searched, number 257, occupied by inmates Eugene Long and Bruce Howell. The officers moved on to the adjacent cell, number 258, which held inmates Cropper and Lloyd Elkins. While searching cell 258, Officers Lumley and Landsperger uncovered various contraband items, including a knife, tattooing equipment and a possible “hit” list. While the officers conducted the search, Cropper repeatedly approached and entered the cell, yelling at the officers and complaining of the search. The search obviously distressed Cropper, who believed the officers disrespected him and his property, and he became enraged because the searchers damaged a photograph of his mother. After Officers Lumley and Landsperger finished their search, they placed Cropper and Elkins on “lockdown” status in their cell, whereby their cell door was locked from the master control panel in the control room and the two inmates were unable to leave.

¶ 3 Through his cell door and a common vent between cells 257 and 258, Cropper spoke to several fellow inmates about his plan to kill Officer Lumley. Inmates Eugene Long and Joshua Brice agreed to help and retrieved an eight-inch steel carving knife buried in one of the Building 26 yards. Using two fly-swatters attached to one another, Long passed Cropper the knife through the vent between the two cells. The inmates in cell 257 then passed a right-handed glove through the vent to Cropper. Cropper removed a lace from one of his shoes and wrapped it around the knife handle to provide a better grip.

¶ 4 Cropper needed to find a way out of his cell. An inmate is able to leave a locked cell if a fellow inmate “spins the lock” to his cell door. This lock picking procedure, performed manually on the cell door lock from outside the cell, bypasses the control room’s electronic lock command. Howell and another inmate, Arthur Zamie, successfully opened the door, and then looked for Officers Lumley and Landsperger. Howell and Long returned to Cropper’s cell and told him that Lumley was in the control room, with the door unlocked.

¶ 5 Cropper left his cell, walked down the hall and entered the control room. Cropper snuck up behind Officer Lumley and thrust the knife into his neck, partially pulled it out, then pushed it in a second time from another direction. By the time Cropper finished, Lumley suffered a total of six stab wounds. Cropper left the control room, leaving the knife protruding from his victim’s neck.

¶ 6 Cropper ran back to his cell from the control room and found the cell door locked. He tried to enter another locked cell and eventually reached cell 257, where he found the door unlocked. As he entered, he told Howell, who was inside cell 257, “I got him.”

¶ 7 Cropper’s clothes were covered with blood. He removed his sweatshirt and undershirt and threw them into Howell’s trash can. He tore off a name tag sewn on the collar of his shirt and flushed it down Howell’s toilet.

¶ 8 Cropper returned to his cell after an unidentified inmate spun the cell door lock. Cropper’s cellmate Elkins helped him wipe away the blood on his body. Cropper also soaked his pants and shoes in a mixture of water and laundry detergent to clean off the blood.

¶ 9 Meanwhile, Howell gathered the bloody clothes from his trash can and placed them inside a garbage bag, which he threw onto the Building 26 roof. Howell then wiped blood from the door knob to Cropper’s cell with one of his socks. DNA tests showed that the blood recovered from Cropper’s shoes, underwear and the glove was consistent with Lumley’s blood.

¶ 10 On April 14, 1997, a grand jury indicted Cropper for first degree murder and other counts related to Officer Lumley’s death. On May 4, 1999, Cropper pled guilty to all counts. The State filed its list of aggravating factors on May 13, 1999, indicating it would seek to prove the murder was committed (1) in an especially cruel, heinous or depraved manner, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.6, and (2) while the defendant was an ADOC inmate, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.7.

¶ 11 On December 12, 1999, while in the custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office awaiting the Lumley murder sentencing proceeding, Cropper stabbed a fellow inmate, Antoin Jones, for which he faced an aggravated assault charge. During a telephone conference on December 15, 1999, the State asked the trial court to continue the upcoming capital aggravation/mitigation hearing pending the outcome of the aggravated assault case. The prosecutor advised the court and Cropper’s attorney that the State would seek to prove a prior serious conviction aggravating circumstance under A.R.S. section 13-703.F.2 if Cropper was convicted of aggravated assault. On April 11, 2000, at the opening of the initial capital aggravation/mitigation hearing, the prosecutor again told the court, Cropper and his attorney that the State would use an aggravated assault conviction as an aggravating circumstance. On April 18, 2000, the court granted the State’s motion to continue the hearing pending the outcome of Cropper’s aggravated assault case. Cropper pled guilty to one count of aggravated assault for the Jones stabbing on June 22, 2000.

¶ 12 Following the close of the aggravation/mitigation hearing on October 13, 2000, the trial court found that the State had established three aggravating circumstances. In its special verdict dated November 3, 2000, the court found (1) Cropper had been convicted of a prior serious offense, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.2; (2) Cropper committed the murder in an especially cruel manner, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.6; and (3) Cropper committed the crime while in the custody of the ADOC, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.7.³ The court also found two mitigating circumstances: (1) Cropper had a strong relationship with certain members of his family and (2) he felt and expressed remorse for Officer Lumley’s death. After considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the court concluded that the mitigating circumstances were not “sufficiently substantial to call for leniency.” A.R.S. § 13-703.E. The court sentenced Cropper to death. This appeal followed.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-supreme-court/1261009.html

Robert Cromwell Arizona Death Row

Robert Cromwell was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of an eleven year old girl. According to court documents Robert Cromwell had just met the victims mother and the two had spent the night together. The next day the victims mother would leave for a short period of time. When she returned she would find her eleven year old daughter, naked and dead. The child had been severely beaten and stabbed to death. Robert Cromwell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Robert Cromwell 2021 Information

ASPC Florence, Central Unit
PO Box 8200
ROBERT L. CROMWELL 174456
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

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On March 6, 2003 Robert Louis Cromwell was sentenced for the following: MARICOPA COUNTY CR-2001-095438, Count 1, First Degree Murder (of Stephanie Short), committed on October 8,2001, sentenced to DEATH by Lethal Injection. At approximately 0351 hours October 8, 2001 Phoenix Police Department received a 911 call from a hysterical female stating she was trying to locate her daughter who was taken by a man who had beaten her. The female (later identified as Ella “Michelle” Speaks) told the dispatcher she was beaten with a stick by a man at her home located at 3208 E. Flower Street and that she believed this man ran off with her daughter. Shortly there after the Phoenix Police Department dispatch received a second 911 call from a Hispanic male who said he heard someone yelling for help and that they thought there was a dead baby at 3208 E. Flower Street, Apartment #205. During the investigation it was determined that through a one time meeting, spending the evening together drinking and doing drugs Ella “Michelle” Speaks left Robert Cromwell at her residence with her 3 daughters while she left for a few minutes to pickup another friend, Kim Jensen. Upon returning to 3208 E. Flower Street Michelle and Kim were greeted at the door by Robert Cromwell who struck Kim Jensen with a pool stick as she stepped into the apartment doorway. Michelle Speaks attempted to stop Robert Cromwell but when Kim was stuck in the head and fell to the floor Robert Cromwell turned on Michelle Speaks and began hitting her until the pool stick broke. Robert Cromwell ran from the residence. Injuries sustained by Michelle Speaks and Kim Jensen required medical attention. Michelle Speaks, who was shaken up over the incident, took off in her vehicle after Robert Cromwell as she believed Robert Cromwell had taken her daughter, Stephanie Short. While driving to Robert Cromwell’s residence Michelle Speaks called 911 to report the incident. The police made contact with Michelle Speaks in her vehicle and returned with her to her residence. Upon searching the residence at 3208 E. Flower Street they found the body of her 11 year old daughter, Stephanie Short, in the master bedroom, unclothed and severely injured. Stephanie Short had 13 stab wounds to her back, a fractured skull and broken jaw and had appeared to have been sexually assaulted. Stephanie was transported to the Good Samaritan Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt force and stabbing injuries. Robert Cromwell was later contacted at his residence 3329 E. Osborn Road, Apartment #9 in Phoenix on October 8, 2001. Robert Cromwell was interviewed, taken to the Phoenix Police Department and subsequently arrested. Inmate Cromwell is also convicted of the following: Maricopa County CR-2001-095438 Count 2, Sexual Assault and Dangerous Crime Against Children (of Stephanie Short), committed on 10/8/01, sentence lifetime without the possibility of parole until 35 years have been served. Counts 3 Aggravated Assault (Ella “Michelle” Speaks), committed on 10/8/01, sentence 10 years; Counts 4 Aggravated Assault (Kim Jensen), committed on 10/8/01, sentence 10 years.

Robert Cromwell Other News

Stephanie Shortt lived with her mother, Ella Speaks, and two younger sisters, Amanda and Heather, in a one-bedroom apartment located on Flower Street, near the intersection of 32nd Street and Osborn Road in Phoenix. Ella met the defendant, Robert Cromwell, in the early evening hours of October 7, 2001 while walking from her apartment to a nearby convenience store to purchase transmission fluid for her car. Ella passed a building where she saw Cromwell sitting on a bench. Cromwell yelled out to her, “Hey, are you a prostitute or a police officer?” Ella continued walking and replied, “I’m neither one. I’m a mother and I’m having a bad day. Leave me alone.” Cromwell then got on his bike and rode toward Ella. Upon reaching her, he said, “I just want to apologize to you. That was a very rude thing I said. In this area, there’s a lot of prostitutes. I can’t believe that I disrespected you that way and I want to give you my fullest apology.” Ella told Cromwell, “It’s okay. I’m just having a bad day. I don’t mean to lash out at you, but I’m not in the mood for those kind of comments.” Cromwell then told Ella he would escort her to the store because “this is a bad area and it’s now dark at this time.” Ella saw some men off to her left and was “almost relieved” that Cromwell was going to walk with her to the store.

¶ 4 Ella went into the store alone where she purchased transmission fluid. When she emerged, Ella found Cromwell waiting for her. The two walked back to her apartment and according to Ella’s testimony, Cromwell seemed “kind” and “caring.”

¶ 5 At the apartment, Cromwell helped Ella put the transmission fluid into the automobile. Ella then asked Cromwell if he would like to accompany her and her three daughters to a nearby fast-food restaurant. Cromwell agreed to go, but wanted first to take the bicycle back to his apartment. Ella and the children followed Cromwell and parked the car to wait for him outside the apartment. Cromwell parked his bike, changed his clothes, then drove with Ella and her three girls to the restaurant.

¶ 6 On the way, Cromwell and the children sang songs. At the drive-through window, Ella offered to buy Cromwell a hamburger. He declined. They obtained food for Ella and the children and went back to Ella’s apartment. While the children ate, Ella and Cromwell went into her bedroom where the two talked and Ella smoked methamphetamine. After spending about an hour in the bedroom, Cromwell agreed to accompany Ella to a number of local bars where she filled out job applications and played a few games of pool.

¶ 7 Cromwell had one drink during the bar visits, and Ella had none. At one bar location, Cromwell leaned over a pool table and tried to kiss Ella on the mouth, but she turned her cheek. Cromwell said, “I can tell you didn’t like it, but I will do it again.” Ella replied, “I don’t think you will,” at which time Ella noticed that Cromwell smiled as if he understood, and he apologized once again.

¶ 8 When Ella and Cromwell returned to her apartment around 1:00 a.m., the children were on a mattress in the living room, still awake. Ella told the girls to go to sleep, and Ella and Cromwell went into the bedroom where they played cards for about an hour.

¶ 9 At some point, with Cromwell still in the apartment, Ella received a phone call from a friend, Kelly Lancaster, asking that she come to his house to help resolve a disturbance being caused by a mutual acquaintance, Kim Jensen. Ella agreed and determined to leave her children with Cromwell because “he seemed so nice.” Cromwell told Ella he would just stay in her room while she was gone. Ella was gone from the house for a little more than an hour.

¶ 10 During Ella’s absence, Stephanie’s nine-year-old sister Amanda was awakened by the sound of Stephanie making a noise as if “she was really hurt.” Amanda then saw Stephanie standing in the bathtub, unclothed, while Cromwell, with socks on both of his hands, washed her with soap. Amanda got out of bed on several occasions while Ella was gone, but Cromwell angrily told her to get back to bed each time. Eventually, Amanda saw Stephanie follow Cromwell into Ella’s bedroom. Although Stephanie remained in Ella’s bedroom, Amanda saw Cromwell move from the bedroom to the kitchen several times. During one such trip, Amanda heard a noise like “silverware shatter, and while Cromwell and Stephanie were in the bedroom, she heard noises that made her think Stephanie was hurt. She then heard a “big bang” that sounded like a television dropping to the floor. Amanda finally fell asleep while Stephanie was in the bedroom with Cromwell.

¶ 11 When Ella returned to the apartment, accompanied by Kim Jensen, Cromwell attacked both of them with a pool cue, resulting in injuries to each. Cromwell ran out of the apartment after the attack and Ella quickly followed, after looking unsuccessfully for Stephanie.

¶ 12 Cromwell’s attack on Ella and Kim awakened Amanda. She saw her mother chase Cromwell out of the apartment. Kim Jensen was lying on the floor with a head injury. Amanda and Heather, the youngest sister, then got up and went to the bedroom to look for Stephanie. Amanda reached into the bed, felt Stephanie’s legs and saw that the television set was resting on Stephanie’s head. She and Heather removed it, then ran downstairs and asked the landlord to call 9-1-1, which he did. After the call, Amanda and Heather went back upstairs and into the bedroom. They observed blood stains on the bedding and found Stephanie’s body, bruised and bloody.

¶ 13 Police Officer Tallon Busby responded to the 9-1-1 call. When he arrived, the door was open and Kim Jensen was on the floor. Officer Busby described the scene: “Laying [sic] inside the doorway was a white female. From the waist down she was outside the apartment, from the waist up, she was laying [sic] facedown in the apartment. There was a blood smear on the door.” He asked Kim, who was semi-conscious, if anyone else was in the apartment. She replied that the baby was in the bedroom. He then asked Kim where she was injured, and she replied that she had been hit on the back of the head. Officer Busby observed that the hair on the back left side of Kim’s head was “matted in blood.”

¶ 14 The officer then went into the dark apartment and observed a light in the bedroom. He walked toward the doorway and saw Stephanie lying face up on the bed. A blanket covered her unclothed body from the waist down. She had “visible wounds on her face and blood coming out of her nose and lips and out of her mouth.” There was a “huge pool of blood” under her head and shoulders. Officer Busby checked to see if Stephanie was breathing and if she had a pulse. He felt a “slight pulse” at her neck. He placed his hand on Stephanie’s chest and “felt a slight rise and fall.” Visible evidence of severe vaginal trauma indicated that Stephanie also had been sexually abused.

¶ 15 By the time Gary Ford, a Phoenix Fire Department paramedic, arrived, Stephanie no longer had a pulse and had stopped breathing. While performing cardiac pulmonary resuscitation, Ford observed that Stephanie had suffered a head wound and multiple stab wounds to her back. Ford also observed the vaginal injuries. After attempting CPR and other life-saving procedures, the paramedics rushed Stephanie to Good Samaritan Hospital.

¶ 16 Dr. Wendy Lucid was on duty at the Good Samaritan emergency room when Stephanie arrived. Stephanie had no heartbeat and was not breathing. Initially, Dr. Lucid did a full body assessment. She found a large laceration on Stephanie’s forehead. Closer inspection revealed a skull fracture. Due to the severity of Stephanie’s head injuries, Dr. Lucid stopped all life support efforts and pronounced her dead. Dr. Lucid then turned Stephanie onto her side and observed eleven stab wounds on her back. Further examination also revealed the vaginal injuries.

¶ 17 The medical examiner performed an autopsy on Stephanie’s body. Based on the injuries, he determined Stephanie had received a minimum of five blows to the head and thirteen stab wounds to the back. The stabbing punctured her right lung, causing it to collapse. In the opinion of the examiner, Stephanie was alive at the time she suffered the vaginal trauma and at the time she was stabbed. The cause of death was multiple blunt force and stabbing injuries inflicted on her head and back.

¶ 18 The grand jury indicted Cromwell October 16, 2001 on one count of first degree murder, one count of sexual assault and two counts of aggravated assault. On November 9, 2001, the State filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for the murder and on August 9, 2002, filed its notice of aggravating factors. Trial began February 3, 2003, resulting in conviction by the jury on all counts in the indictment.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-supreme-court/1492588.html

Scott Clabourne Arizona Death Row

Scott Clabourne was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of a woman. According to court documents Scott Clabourne and Larry Langston met the victim at a bar and would leave with her. The woman was brought to a home of Larry Langston where she was sexually assaulted, strangled and stabbed multiple times. Larry Langston would be convicted of murder and sentenced to life, Scott Clabourne was convicted and sentenced to death

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Scott Clabourne 2021 Information

ASPC Eyman, Browning Unit
PO Box 3400
SCOTT D. CLABOURNE 046561
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

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On the evening of September 18, 1980, Laura Webster, a University of Arizona student, was at the Green Dolphin Bar in Tucson with friends. She met Clabourne and Larry Langston at the bar and left with them. Clabourne and Langston then took Webster to the house of a friend of Langston. Ms. Webster was repeatedly raped and sodomized, then strangled and stabbed in the heart three times. Her body was dumped in an arroyo, where it was found the next morning. Langston pled guilty to murder and received a life sentence.

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The murder of Laura Webster at the hands of Clabourne, Larry Langston and Edward Carrico is undisputed and well documented in earlier decisions. See Clabourne I; Lewis. On the night of September 18, 1980, Webster, a twenty-two-year-old student at the University of Arizona, was approached by Clabourne and Langston at the Green Dolphin Bar in Tucson. According to Clabourne, they convinced Webster to leave with them by telling her they were going to a cocaine party. During the drive from the bar, Langston stopped the car, pulled Webster out, beat her and threw her back in the car. Webster pleaded with Clabourne to protect her. The men took Webster to a house where they forced her to remove her clothes and serve them drinks. She was repeatedly beaten and raped for approximately six hours. Webster continued to beg Clabourne for help. Eventually Clabourne strangled her with a bandanna. When she was nearly dead, he stabbed her twice with a knife, piercing her lung and heart. The men wrapped her body in a sheet and threw it from a bridge into the dry bed of the Santa Cruz River where it was found the next day.

¶ 3 Clabourne told Shirley Martin, among others, that he had killed a woman he had met in a bar. A year after the body was discovered, Martin informed police. In October 1981, Clabourne confessed to Tucson Police Detective Luis Bustamante.

¶ 4 Clabourne was found competent to stand trial by court-appointed psychiatrists Drs. John S. LaWall and Edward S. Gelardin. Because Clabourne had advanced an insanity defense, they also examined Clabourne’s mental state. Both testified at trial that he was legally sane at the time of the offense. Clabourne called Dr. Sanford Berlin, a psychiatrist who had treated him in 1975 for mental problems. Dr. Berlin said he was unable to determine what Clabourne’s state of mind had been when he committed the crimes.

¶ 5 At the sentencing hearing following Clabourne’s conviction, defense counsel suggested possible grounds for mitigation but gave the court no reasons to find them. In particular, counsel referred to the evidence of Clabourne’s mental health presented at trial. But at trial the psychiatrists testified in terms of legal sanity; they did not address mitigation. Ultimately, the trial judge found one aggravating circumstance: that the defendant had committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-supreme-court/1410929.html

Derek Chappell Arizona Death Row

Derek Chappell was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of a child. According to court documents Derek Chappell was upset that his girlfriend gave more attention to her child, Devon Hinman Seeley , who was two and a half years old. Derek Chappell would murder the child in the middle of the night by bringing the child to the apartment complex’s pool and drowning the child. Derek Chappell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Derek Chappell 2021 Information

ASPC Florence, Central Unit
PO Box 8200
DEREK D. CHAPPELL 223626
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

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Derek Chappell was dating Kristal Shackleford who had a young son, Devon, from a previous relationship. Chappell felt that he was always in competition with Devon for Kristal’s attention and affection. In December of 2003, Chappell was baby-sitting Devon and became so frustrated that he choked him, cutting off his air supply, and causing severe brusing. Child Protective Services investigated this incident and Chappell was ordered to have no further contact with Devon. Despite orders and CPS’s involvement, Kristal and Chappell continued their relationship. In the early morning hours of March 11, 2004, Kristal called the police to report that Devon was missing from her apartment. Shortly after police arrived on the scene, they found 2 1/2 year old Devon floating in the apartment complex pool. The investigation proved that Chappell took Devon from the apartment in the middle of the night, carried him to the pool, and drowned him to death.

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Little Devon Hinman Seeley didn’t say a word when Derek Chappell woke the toddler at 2:30 a.m. Thursday, took him by the hand and walked outside the Mesa apartment.

When they got to the pool, the sleepy child put his arms up to be held.

During the minute or so it took to hold down and drown the struggling 2-year-old, Chappell said he thought about changing his mind.

“I was thinking, ‘This can’t be how it’s going to end for this kid,’ but I thought I had already come this far,” Chappell said Monday at Maricopa County’s Madison Street Jail in Phoenix, where he is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder. After it was over, Chappell, 21, of Mesa ran home to take care of the last thing on his list of instructions — burn the list — a list he said was written by Kristal Shackleford, Devon’s 22-year-old mother.

“She pretty much told me what to do, and I did it,” Chappell said.

Shackleford denied the accusation.

“That was my baby. Why would I ever do anything like that?” Shackleford said Monday night.

“Ms. Shackleford is still considered a lead in the investigation,” Mesa police Sgt. Ruben Quesada said Monday. “She has denied to detectives the allegations made by Chappell, and we are still considering this an open and active investigation.”

Shackleford said police questioned her for four hours Friday, then let her go home after taking a polygraph test. “They wouldn’t have let me go (Friday) night if I had anything to do with it,” Shackleford said.

Police said Shackleford called 911 at 6 a.m. Thursday to report that her front door was open and her son was missing. An officer went to the apartment complex at 1960 W. Keating Ave., where Shackleford lives, and found Devon floating facedown in 3 feet of water.

Next to the pool was a Spider-Man doll — a doll Chappell said Shackleford instructed him to leave behind.

Shackleford said she told police she believes that Chappell broke into her apartment through the patio door and killed Devon because she wouldn’t rekindle her relationship with him. Police have said there were no signs of forced entry.

Chappell also said Monday that he and Shackleford were secretly engaged to be married. Her family didn’t approve of him because police and Child Protective Services were investigating a December incident in which he admits he tried to strangle Devon.

“We thought her family would accept me better with Devon out of the way,” Chappell said.

Shackleford also resented having to care for a small child, but she didn’t want to give him to his father or Devon’s other relatives, Chappell said.

“She pretty much had a decision to make — to be with me or to be with her son,” Chappell said. “She didn’t want her family to know she was picking me, so she came up with some options. . . . She said we could drown him and make it look like an accident.”

Shackleford told the Tribune over the weekend: “There’s no way in hell I would choose anybody over Devon.”

Chappell said he immediately confessed when police questioned him.

“I knew if I confessed to what I had done that maybe, just hopefully, I’ll find my way to heaven,” Chappell said.

He said he’d rather get the death penalty than live the rest of his life in prison.

“Every time I close my eyes, I’m looking into that kid’s eyes underwater,” Chappell said

https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/news/suspect-ties-mother-to-toddler-s-drowning/article_7d2ff4c8-6daa-57e0-ac70-05726b5c28a4.html