Phoenix police say the man they accuse of fatally shooting Ricktavon Oshea Thompson, 26, near 16th Avenue and Buckeye Road on October 28 was arrested two days later at the far end of a cross-state run — in San Diego County, California, about one mile from the U.S.-Mexico border. Stevie Nelson, 29, was taken into custody on October 30 along with Amela Batlak, 32, and both were booked into the San Diego County Jail, according to a Phoenix Police Department update published on November 3. Arizona's Family (3TV/CBS 5) and 12News, Phoenix's two main television newsrooms, both reported on November 2 that Nelson had been taken into custody over the weekend in connection with Thompson's death, near the California-Mexico border.
Source: Phoenix Police Department update, via Habari Entertainment
What police say happened in the parking lot
Officers responded shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, to a business parking lot near 16th Avenue and Buckeye Road in Phoenix, where they found Thompson with multiple gunshot wounds. Phoenix Fire Department crews took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Source: Phoenix Police Department update, via Habari Entertainment
Detectives say the shooting grew out of a fight. According to police, Thompson and Nelson were fighting when Batlak allegedly assaulted Thompson. During the altercation, a shot was fired and a second man was struck. That man had left before officers arrived and later went to a hospital on his own with a gunshot wound police described as non-life-threatening; police have not released his name. Police say the second man walked away and Thompson also began to leave, and that Nelson then allegedly shot Thompson multiple times before leaving the scene with Batlak in a sedan.
Source: Phoenix Police Department update, via Habari Entertainment
A licence plate reader, then a rental car near the border
The identification, police say, came from technology and follow-up evidence: information captured by a licence plate reader, along with other evidence, helped detectives identify Nelson and Batlak. Licence plate readers are automated cameras that record passing plates and let investigators trace a vehicle's movements after a crime — in this case, police say, far enough to follow the pair's direction of travel two days later.
Source: Phoenix Police Department update, via Habari Entertainment
On October 30, investigators learned that Batlak was travelling toward California and asked the San Diego Police Department's Special Investigations Unit for help. San Diego investigators located both suspects that evening in a rental vehicle about one mile from the U.S.-Mexico border, and both were booked into the San Diego County Jail.
Source: Phoenix Police Department update, via Habari Entertainment
Phoenix police say Nelson is expected to be extradited to Arizona and booked on suspicion of second-degree murder. The department did not specify whether Batlak faces charges, and it has not announced any charge against her. No court date in Arizona has been announced.
Source: Phoenix Police Department update, via Habari Entertainment
The law in the background: second-degree murder in Arizona
Under Arizona law, second-degree murder is generally the charge used where prosecutors allege a killing was intentional but not premeditated, or resulted from conduct the defendant knew would cause death or serious physical injury; it is a class 1 felony. At this stage Nelson is a suspect, not a convicted person: he was arrested on suspicion, formal charging in Maricopa County is a separate step taken by prosecutors after extradition, and he is presumed innocent unless the state proves its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Everything police describe about the fight and the shooting is the department's account of an investigation that is still open. Nelson has not been convicted of anything in this case, Batlak's status has not been specified by police, and the wounded second man has not been named.
For residents and businesses around the Buckeye Road corridor, the case is also a reminder of how quickly a parking-lot fight can turn fatal, and of how far a modern investigation can reach in 48 hours: a plate reader hit in Phoenix, a tip that a suspect was heading west, and an arrest that same evening by a partner agency in another state, within sight of an international border.
What happens next: Nelson's case now moves through the extradition process in California, after which Phoenix police say he will be brought back to Arizona and booked on suspicion of second-degree murder. Prosecutors in Maricopa County will then decide on formal charges, and a first court appearance in Arizona would follow. Detectives have not said whether they are seeking any further suspects, and police have not released the name or an updated condition for the second man who was wounded.
Source: Phoenix Police Department update, via Habari Entertainment