Isaiah Bandin, 15, is believed to have been charged with the murder of 16-year-old Esteban Venezuela last month, InMaricopa is first to report.

Bandin met Juvenile Judge Roger Valdez Nov. 28 during his 18-minute initial appearance in the Pinal County Juvenile Detention Courtroom. Pinal County public defender Jolanta Rusinski, who lives in Rancho El Dorado and has an office on John Wayne Parkway, has been appointed to represent him, according to court documents.

Rusinski could not be reached for comment today. Bandin will be arraigned tomorrow in Florence. 

Bandin’s Instagram account, @mrbandibandi, refers to the teen who was killed: “EstebansWRLD,” he posted to his bio, with a white dove emoji, typically used on social media to memorialize dead loved ones.

One post on Bandin’s TikTok account, @Isaiah_Bandin, using an audio titled “death,” is an image slideshow of first-person photos of the 15-year-old holding two lit joints, a bottle of Smirnoff vodka, a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey, a strawberry cupcake flavored BuzzBar cannabis vape and Ak-Chin Circle from the top of the Harrah’s casino parking garage.

On the night of the murder, vape boxes littered the ground on Dancer Lane, where two people with knowledge of the case said they believed a drug deal had turned sour.

Bandin is apparently one of the two children arrested Nov. 27 during a SWAT-assisted search of a Villages home and a “high-risk” traffic stop at the Sonoran Creek Marketplace, confirmed to be a boy and girl, both aged 15. A third child, 16, was arrested with ties to the murder Dec. 4.

Police on Nov. 22 had responded to the 45000 block of Dirk Street in the Maricopa Meadows just before 7:15 p.m., where they found the shot teen Valenzuela and transported him to a local hospital, where he died.

A police statement released Nov. 28 stated the authorities believed the fatal incident “involved a group of juveniles and young adults.”  

Bandin, who presented himself as a member of the Ak-Chin Indian Community, according to several of his social media posts and profiles, frequently bragged about and documented his illegal activity across his TikTok, Instagram and Facebook accounts. He frequently posted pictures of anime characters.

Ak-Chin teens on Monday were posting “free bandini,” Bandin’s nickname, and the hashtag #freemybrother on Instagram.

The Pinal County Deputy Attorney Jason Johanes is prosecuting the case in Pinal County Superior Court, where Bandin is now being charged as an adult. Born in late 2009, he becomes the youngest person from Maricopa to face murder charges. Children younger than 15 cannot be tried as adults for any crime in Arizona.

Bandin remains in custody in lieu of posting a cash bond of $1 million, according to a Dec. 6 court filing. He faces life in prison, but not the death penalty, due to his age.

Citing a law that prevented him from doing so, Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer today told InMaricopa he could not confirm or deny if the case was tied to the Maricopa Meadows homicide.

Citing an active investigation, an MPD spokesperson had no further comment.

“While we understand the public’s desire to understand the events of Nov. 22, there are several reasons why information is kept private during an active investigation,” said the spokesperson, Monica Williams. “The most important is preserving the integrity of the case and safeguarding the evidence necessary to prosecute those responsible for committing these crimes.”

Brian Petersheim Jr. contributed reporting.