PHOENIX — Police say a man is in custody, accused of first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection to a shooting Friday night during the sale of a car.
Phoenix police say Abel Uribe was located and arrested Saturday in connection with the shooting of 27-year-old David Navidad-Parra.
Officers originally responded to the call just before 9:15 p.m. Friday, where they found Navidad-Parra lying on the ground with a gunshot wound.
Navidad-Parra was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say there was another call earlier about a man missing while providing a test drive during a private vehicle sale, and officers later confirmed the missing person was Navidad-Parra.
Detectives then learned that the Glendale Police Department responded to a vehicle fire near 91st Avenue and Rose Lane early Saturday morning.
Early reports suggest the vehicle that caught fire was involved in the homicide investigation.
Uribe made his first appearance in court Sunday on the charges he is facing.
Navidad-Parra’s friends and family laid out candles, flowers and Christmas decorations near the area where he died. That memorial grew on Sunday.
“He loved Christmas. His last name was Navidad. Now, there’s no more Christmas without him,” said Julissa Abusalem, Navidad-Parra’s sister-in-law.
The family went out to a jail in west Phoenix, holding up signs saying they want justice for him.
“That person who did this to David is breathing now. He’s breathing and David’s not. He’s not here with us. He’s not here with us no more. No one’s going to bring David back,” Abusalem said, emotional, surrounded by her family who all loved him.
“He didn’t deserve what they did to him. And we’re all really hurt,” Alberto Ontiveros, Navidad-Parra’s father-in-law, said in Spanish.
Abusalem told ABC15 Navidad-Parra had such a big heart that no one understood how big it was. She added he was so loved.
She said Navidad-Parra was on leave from the military to visit his family in Phoenix for the holiday. She said he was just trying to sell a family member’s car when this all happened.
“Our heart is so empty. The pain is so real… It gets harder to live without him. My sister, his wife, is in so much pain,” Abusalem said. “He was a very special person to everybody. To everybody. We need justice for David.”
Phoenix police say the investigation is still active, and anyone with information on this shooting is being asked to call them.
