Scarlett Shiu-Mei Ku, a 64-year-old woman was killed on November 23, 2025, during a domestic violence shooting inside her family’s home in south Phoenix, Arizona. That afternoon, around 4:45 p.m., Phoenix police were dispatched to the area near 39th Street and Beverly Road, just south of Baseline Road, after a caller reported that a man inside the residence was firing a gun and that multiple people had been shot.
When officers entered the home, they found two people already dead from gunshot wounds: Scarlett and her husband, 68-year-old George Chin Ku. Nearby, officers discovered two additional adult male victims who had also been shot. Both were rushed to a local hospital; one of them, identified as the couple’s 31-year-old son, Jeremy Jonathan Ku, later died of his injuries, while the other man, whose exact relationship to the family has not been publicly disclosed, was reported to have non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive.
Detectives say the shootings unfolded during a domestic violence incident between George and Scarlett. According to police statements summarized in multiple news reports, investigators believe George produced a handgun during the altercation and shot Scarlett, then turned the weapon on Jeremy and the other man inside the home. After shooting them, George is believed to have shot himself, leading authorities to characterize the case as an apparent murder-suicide. Police have stated that no other individuals are believed to be involved and that no additional suspects are being sought in connection with the attack, meaning there have been no arrests in the case because the suspected shooter died at the scene.
In the days following the shooting, Scarlett was added to the National Gun Violence Memorial, which lists her as having been “lost to gun violence” in Phoenix on November 23, 2025, alongside her son Jeremy. Visitors to the memorial site have lit dozens of virtual candles in her name, placing her death within a broader national record of people killed by firearms and underscoring how a single domestic conflict devastated an entire family and left one surviving victim, extended relatives, and the wider community grappling with the aftermath.
