On July 19, 2023, Tucson resident Lionel Daniel Mathews, a 21-year-old Black/African American male, was found fatally shot in the 3000 block of South 6th Avenue in South Tucson, Arizona. Around 1:00 a.m., officers from the South Tucson Police Department responded to reports of a shooting and located Mathews with gunshot wounds at the scene; he was pronounced dead there.
Because the incident was treated immediately as a homicide, the South Tucson Police Department requested assistance from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which quickly assumed the lead role in the investigation into his killing.
In the hours that followed, investigators processed the scene, gathered evidence, and began interviewing potential witnesses. By later that same day, detectives had identified a suspect, Christopher Rodriguez, in connection with the shooting. Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Rodriguez on one count of first-degree murder and one count of possessing a weapon as a prohibited possessor, warning the public that he was considered armed and dangerous and asking anyone who might see him or have information about his whereabouts to contact 911 or the regional tip line 88-CRIME. At that stage, no additional suspects were publicly named, and investigators did not release a detailed account of the circumstances or motive behind the shooting, only confirming that Mathews had died of gunshot wounds at the South 6th Avenue location.
Two days after the homicide, on July 21, 2023, a coordinated operation involving the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, South Tucson Police, and the Pima Regional SWAT team led to the arrest of Christopher Rodriguez at a residence in the 300 block of East Glenn Street in Tucson. With assistance from the Tucson Police Department, SWAT officers served the warrant and took Rodriguez into custody without incident. He was booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Complex and formally charged with first-degree murder and illegal possession of a weapon as a prohibited person. Subsequent case summaries describing Mathews’ death list the homicide as solved, reflecting that a suspect was identified and arrested, though publicly available reports focus on the investigation and arrest rather than detailing the outcome of later court proceedings.
