Maricopa Police Department this afternoon confirmed the ages and sexes of two children arrested last month linked to the shooting that killed 16-year-old Esteban Valenzuela in the Maricopa Meadows days before.
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 were confirmed to be a boy and girl, both 15 years old.
MPD spokesperson Monica Williams could not confirm this afternoon if the suspected killer was among those arrested, nor what was the nature of the charges lodged against any of the three children.
“It’s a very active investigation right now,” she said.
That information was released to InMaricopa just hours after the department told us that it had arrested another 16-year-old boy on Wednesday.
Police responded to the 45000 block of West Dirk Street just before 7:15 p.m. Nov. 22, 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 police believed the fatal incident “involved a group of juveniles and young adults.”
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, among people aged 15 to 19, the homicide rate has increased steadily since 2013, surpassing the suicide rate in 2020 for the first time in a decade.
