Sixteen Year Old Arrested for 1st Degree Murder
August 16, 2011
On 08/15/2011 at 2:42 PM a call of a shooting was dispatched at
8538 East Meseto. When officers arrived, they found the victim,
42-year-old Denna Strebe, lying in the laundry room of the
residence with what appeared to be a gunshot to the head.
Lifesaving measures were taken, but the victim ultimately died
at a nearby hospital. Statements from family members, who were
inside the residence at the time of the shooting, named the
person who shot the victim as a 16-year-old male who is known to
the family as the boyfriend of the victim's 18-year-old
daughter, who also lives in the residence.
The son of the victim heard a gunshot from the laundry room area
of the residence and saw the suspect emerge from the laundry
room with a gun in his hand. The son ran into a bedroom where
the suspect and he engaged in a physical confrontation. The
noise of the confrontation woke up the victim's husband and
homeowner. He stated in an interview that he saw the suspect and
his son engaged in a physical confrontation in his daughter's
bedroom. The victim's husband ran to the confrontation where he
saw the suspect still holding a pistol in his right hand. He was
able to forcibly remove the weapon from the suspect's hand and
ran to the laundry room, where he found his wife on the floor
with a gunshot wound to the head.
The suspect was able to free himself and escape from the
residence via the bedroom window. Mesa police officers located
and detained the suspect at 7105 East Superstition Springs Blvd
in Mesa at approximately 5:15 PM.
During an interview with investigators, the suspect admitted to
stealing his father's pistol from his closet. While trying to
load the weapon in his residence, he accidently discharged the
weapon into his bedroom wall. The suspect left his residence on
foot with his father's weapon on his person. At some point the
suspect walked over to his girlfriend's parents' home. Once
there, he lifted the garage door and waited in the garage for
someone to open the door leading from the garage into the
residence. After approximately 15 minutes, the victim opened the
garage service door and the suspect forced his way into the
home, pointing the weapon directly at the victim. A brief
struggle ensued and the weapon discharged, striking the victim
in the head and killing her.
The defendant went on to say that he walked to his girlfriend's
bedroom and was met with a physical confrontation from her
brother. The suspect told the investigator that he decided to
steal his father's pistol and go over to his girlfriend's home
earlier in the day while he was still in school. He also stated
that his goal was to either go over to his girlfriend's home and
kill himself or kill his girlfriend and then kill himself.
As a result of this investigation, the 16-year-old suspect has
been booked into the Maricopa County Juvenile Detention Facility
on one count of 1st Degree Murder and one count of 1st Degree
Burglary.