On a Tuesday morning in late May, the quiet of a north Phoenix neighborhood was broken by a grim discovery. On May 28, 2024, a woman, upon checking on her boyfriend, found him unresponsive in his car. Her boyfriend, 22-year-old Carlos Mercado Chavez, had been shot and killed. The tragic event unfolded on the 2900 block of East Michael Drive, near 28th Street and Greenway Road. Phoenix police were called to the scene around 8 a.m.
and initiated a homicide investigation.
The investigation into the death of the young man, a male, led detectives to identify two suspects. For several weeks, the individuals believed to be responsible remained at large. The persistence of the investigators paid off, and nearly a month after the incident, arrests were made. On June 21, 2024, officers located and apprehended 19-year-old Derrick Teague. The following day, a second suspect, a teenager under the age of 18, was also taken into custody.
With the two suspects in custody, the motive behind the fatal shooting became clearer. Investigators believe that the incident was the result of a planned robbery that escalated into a deadly confrontation. Both Teague and the juvenile suspect were booked into jail on multiple felony counts, including murder and armed robbery. Authorities have indicated that they do not believe anyone else was involved in the crime.
