By Derek Jordan
Herald/Review
SIERRA VISTA — A man sheriff’s investigators believe shot and killed his live-in girlfriend before turning the hand gun on himself in Fairbank on Sunday was investigated and charged with murder in connection with a 2004 shooting in Sierra Vista, police and court records show.
On Sunday, David Urrea Diaz, 50, is alleged to have shot and killed his girlfriend and them himself, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office said.
Carol Capas said Diaz called the sheriff’s office at 7:20 p.m. to report a dead body outside of his residence. Eventually, he told the communications officer that he had shot his girlfriend and was going to shoot himself.
Deputies were dispatched to the scene in the 1900 block of Shane Lane and were assisted by U.S. Border Patrol agents and a Border Patrol helicopter, Capas said.
While planning their entry onto the property, the deputies were informed by the helicopter crew that shots had been fired and that a male subject was now down beside a truck in the front yard.
A male and female were discovered near the truck with “significant head trauma” and were pronounced dead by Whetstone Fire District medical personnel, Capas said.
A search of Diaz’s name in online court records showed he was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of drive-by shooting, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, one count of endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct in Cochise County Superior Court in November 2004.
The charges were dismissed without prejudice after a request from the prosecution, according to court records.
A Sierra Vista Police Department case report indicates that Diaz was involved in a shooting at Buffalo Soldier Trail and Avenida Cochise on Nov. 11.
The victim in the incident reported to police that he was driving south on Buffalo Soldier Trail when, while stopped at the traffic light at Avenida Cochise, the driver of a “blue older sedan” shot at him, according to portions of the report written by Detective Sean Brownson.
Shortly after the victim reported the incident, Diaz reported being kidnapped at gunpoint to the Huachuca City Police Department, according to
the report.
Diaz was interviewed by Sierra Vista Police after it was determined the two incidents were connected.
The report states that while being interviewed by police, Diaz claimed a man he did not know kidnapped him at gunpoint at his residence in Huachuca City and ordered him to drive him to Palominas. Diaz went on to claim that it was this man who shot at the victim while the two vehicles traveled south on Buffalo Soldier Trail.
In his interview with police, the victim said he saw only one person in the vehicle that fired at him, according to the report.
Diaz was taken into custody after investigators determined his account of events was inconsistent and did not match that of witness statements, the report states.
Prosecutors at the Cochise County Attorney’s Office could not be reached to determine why the charges were dismissed.
The deaths in Fairbank remain under investigation, Capas said. The sheriff’s office is not releasing the identity of the woman until next of kin are notified.
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