In the late hours of a warm August night in Tucson, Arizona, the life of 56-year-old Matthew Erik Simmerman was tragically cut short. On August 23, 2025, at approximately 11:45 p.m., police responded to a report of a shooting in the 900 block of South Warren Avenue. Their investigation led them to a nearby wash where they discovered Simmerman with gunshot wounds.
Despite the immediate life-saving efforts of both the responding officers and medics from the Tucson Fire Department, he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Detectives learned that the male victim had been residing in the wash with a female companion. In what appeared to be a sudden and violent encounter, an unknown individual approached Simmerman on foot and shot him. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, and the suspect fled the scene, leaving a community in shock and a homicide investigation in its early stages. Authorities processed the area for evidence and appealed to the public for any information that could lead to the apprehension of the person responsible for this senseless act.
For a time, the case remained under active investigation with no publicly named suspects. However, a breakthrough came when investigators identified 40-year-old Joshua Poe as the primary suspect in Matthew Simmerman's murder. At the time of this development, Poe was already incarcerated in the Pima County Jail in connection with a separate and unrelated homicide. Forensic evidence, specifically DNA, played a crucial role in linking Poe to Simmerman's death. Consequently, Joshua Poe was charged with first-degree murder, bringing a significant development to the case and a measure of hope for justice for Matthew Erik Simmerman and his loved ones.
