Details released in 2 more Phoenix serial street shootings, no hint of motive

The deaths of 19-year-old Manuel Castro Garcia and Horacio de Jesus Pena, 32, follow the same trajectory of many of their counterparts tied to the "serial street shooter."

Castro Garcia and Pena were outside residential homes in Maryvale, gunned down at night, for no apparent reason.

They were killed in June, one week apart.

Police reports on the men's deaths were made public Monday afternoon, the latest of the nine related reports to be released. The two remaining reports are expected to be made available this week.

Both documents redact key details and reveal only portions of witness reports or potential motives.

Police remain confident all of the incidents are connected. They have tied each shooting through “forensic evidence” and say a handgun was used at each scene.

Here is a synopsis of the police reports:

June 3, 2016, 9:50 p.m.: Murder 1st degree-premeditated 

Horacio de Jesus Pena, 32, had just arrived home from work when he was cut down in the driveway of a house in the 6700 block of West Flower Street, where he lived with his sister and mother.

No one witnessed the shooting.

One neighbor saw a long white sedan, perhaps a Lincoln or Cadillac, parked or slowing in front of Pena’s house moments before, and noted it was gone after she heard the shots.

Several neighborhood residents heard the shots — five to eight, they reported. Police collected at least nine shell casings from the driveway.

The medical examiner removed at least five slugs from Pena’s head and torso.

One neighbor told The Arizona Republic that he heard the shots and then heard the screech of tires but saw nothing by the time he got to the window.

One neighbor who ran out saw Pena lying in the road. He went to alert Pena’s sister, then stood in Flower Street to stop cars so that no one would run over Pena.

Police speculated from the position of the casings in relation to Pena’s body that the shooter was probably out of the car standing near Pena. But the narrative went on to say that investigators could not rule out the possibility that the shooter was extending his hand out a window, as witnesses had reported in at least one of the other Maryvale shootings.

Police removed a stolen car from the scene, but the report did not connect it to the murder.

Some of the other victims linked to the "serial street shooter" had criminal histories, especially with drugs. A few had enemies who family members suggested could be responsible for the shootings, fatal and non-fatal, although those leads have been redacted from the reports that police have released to The Republic.

There are no such hints in the reports on Pena’s murder. He had no apparent criminal record. His sister remarked that he never had been in a romantic relationship with another person, likely because he had suffered from "mental disorders."

He held a job in an assisted-living facility and worked until late in the evening.

“He was very peaceful, and he didn’t have problems with anyone,” a neighbor, Gelacio Lopez, told The Republic. “He didn’t get involved with anyone.”

Lopez said he frequently saw Pena running in a nearby park.

On the night of the murder, Lopez came home from work perhaps 15 minutes after the shooting to see the police cars. He said that he and a friend who also works late often sit in the front yard to relax when they get home from their jobs.

“It could have happened to me or to him,” Lopez said.

Several witnesses in the report said that they had heard shots other times in the neighborhood, but that speeding cars were a more frequent complaint. As in most of the west Phoenix community, the east-west streets are stacked like mazes to discourage through traffic. You can’t drive more than a few blocks in a residential area without having to make a turn.

The house where Pena lived and died is a newer, well-kept home on a winding block of similarly well-kept properties. What it has in common with most of the other shooting sites is that it is near a corner on a direct north-south thoroughfare, in this case 67th Avenue.

The major street could provide a quick getaway.

The neighborhood, on a recent afternoon, seemed peaceful.

“It’s peaceful when it’s peaceful,” Lopez said in Spanish. “And when it’s not, there are major crimes.”

Phoenix 'serial street shooter' reports offer new details in triple homicide

June 10, 2016, 9:25 p.m.: Murder 1st degree

On the evening of June 10, 19-year-old Manuel Castro Garcia pulled up to his girlfriend’s house in the 6500 block of West Coronado Street to pick her up for dinner.

His presence at her home was typical. The two had been dating for 13 months, and a witness noted that he would regularly wait outside for her to come out, holding down the brake until she joined him.

Castro Garcia’s girlfriend would later tell police she had arrived home at 9:12 p.m. and texted Castro Garcia that she was ready to be picked up. Castro Garcia pulled up to the home eight minutes later, returning the text that he was in front of the house.

Less than a minute later, as she was turning off the lights and locking up, the girlfriend heard five or six gunshots from outside.

About the same time, witnesses who had been nearby spotted a vehicle driving slowly by westbound, “characteristic of a person looking for someone or something,” according to the police report.

Another witness saw what she described as a white SUV stopped beside Castro Garcia’s gray Toyota 4-Runner. Another said the white SUV looked to be a Jeep, although the witness could have confused it with Castro Garcia’s vehicle.

No one heard an argument or confrontation.

Phoenix police release reports from 3 early 'serial street shooter' cases

One of the witnesses heard six or seven gunshots in quick succession and dropped to the ground along with his friends. When he looked up, the witness only saw Castro Garcia’s SUV roll slowly eastbound before hitting another car.

By the time they reached Castro Garcia, he was slumped over in the driver’s seat.

After hearing the gunshots, Castro Garcia’s girlfriend called and texted to see if it was safe to come outside, but got no response. It wasn’t until a neighbor knocked on her door that she realized it was her boyfriend who had been shot.

Police noted the weapon as a handgun, the same firearm listed in the other shooting reports.

Castro Garcia’s girlfriend told police her boyfriend wasn’t involved in any illegal activities aside from recreationally smoking marijuana. Although one witness heard third-hand that Castro Garcia had recently reported being threatened, a second witness denied this account.

The only motive Castro Garcia’s girlfriend could suggest to police was road rage. Though she couldn’t point to any specific instance, she told officers it wasn’t uncommon for Castro Garcia to drive fast.

Another witness told police that he had no idea who would want to kill Castro Garcia. He was a “sweet boy,” the witness added. A “good boy.”