Arizona crime spike with record weekend for homicides in Maricopa County

Last weekend was a violent one in Maricopa County.

There were six homicide incidents in the county over the weekend, a record for 2022.

“These are six families who are grieving, six loved ones who were unexpectedly taken, and every case has a different set of facts and evidence that must be reviewed by our office,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a news release. “A victim in one of these homicides is a 15-year-old teenager.”

Prosecutors at the County Attorney’s Office must review facts and evidence to make a charging decision within 48 business hours of a suspect’s arrest in the county. If no charges are filed, the suspect may be released back into the community.

Usually, a homicide prosecutor deals with 10 to 12 cases, but employees now face heavier workloads due to a prosecutor shortage.

“These six homicides are roughly half of a caseload for one prosecutor,” Mitchell said in the press release. “To have this number of homicides in a weekend is a significant number for our office, and more importantly for this community.”

The County Attorney’s office says the county has had abnormally high crime weekends this year, but none to this extent.

Here is the list of homicide cases the County Attorney’s office expects to be submitted from last weekend:

August 12 stabbing in MesaAugust 12 vehicle crime in MesaAugust 13 stabbing in PhoenixAugust 13 stabbing in MesaAugust 14 shooting in Phoenix August 14 shooting in Guadalupe *victim is a minor