In the early morning hours of February 21, 2025, Naul Hernandez, a 55-year-old Hispanic man, was senselessly killed in Phoenix, Arizona. He was on his way to work, a hardworking grandfather simply stopping for gas at a QuikTrip station near 27th Avenue and Thomas Road. Hernandez was an innocent bystander, caught in the path of a violent crime spree that tragically cut his life short.
His family, including his wife and daughter, were left devastated by the sudden and shocking loss of the man who provided for them and was deeply loved.
The events leading to Hernandez's death began earlier that morning when two 19-year-olds, Isaac Lechuga and Arturo Vazquez-Rodriguez, allegedly committed an armed robbery at another convenience store near 25th Avenue and Camelback Road. According to prosecutors, one of the teens carried out the robbery at gunpoint while the other acted as a lookout in their truck. After fleeing the first scene, they drove to the QuikTrip where Hernandez was refueling his vehicle. It was there that they fatally shot him. Phoenix police officers responded to a shooting call and found Hernandez in the parking lot with a gunshot wound; he died at the scene.
Investigators quickly used surveillance video to identify the truck seen leaving the armed robbery and the subsequent homicide. Homicide detectives and a tactical unit located the vehicle and its owner, leading to the swift arrests of the suspects. Lechuga was taken into custody at his home on the afternoon of the murder, and Vazquez-Rodriguez was arrested later that day. Both were booked on charges related to the crime spree.
A Maricopa County grand jury later indicted both Lechuga and Vazquez-Rodriguez on multiple felony charges, including first-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, kidnapping, and aggravated assault. Vazquez-Rodriguez is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond, while Lechuga was given a $1 million secured appearance bond. Their trial is scheduled to take place in October.
