Antoinette Leotta, a 61-year-old woman, was fatally shot on the morning of November 21, 2022, in a parking lot in Mesa, Arizona, near Baseline and Greenfield Roads. Her 27-year-old son, Albert Leotta, was also injured in the attack. The two were in separate vehicles parked next to each other when the shooting occurred. Albert was able to call 911 to report that he and his mother had been shot.
Upon their arrival, Mesa Police officers began to provide medical aid, but Antoinette was
pronounced dead at the scene. Her son was transported to a nearby hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Eyewitnesses at the scene described the shooter as an older white male who fled the area in a white pickup truck, heading south through the parking lot.
Law enforcement was able to identify a potential suspect thanks to an officer who had a previous interaction with a man matching the description. The individual was identified as 65-year-old Kenneth Montgomery. A little before 11:30 a.m. the same day, Montgomery's truck was located by Mesa Police near the Butcher Jones Recreation Area. Inside the truck, officers saw a handgun on the dashboard that appeared to have blood on it.
During the subsequent investigation, detectives learned that Montgomery was not known to the victims. In an interview with police, Montgomery reportedly admitted to the shooting. He stated that he had gone to the parking lot looking for two cars he believed were involved in criminal activities. He claimed to have 'unloaded' his gun, firing all the bullets it contained. When asked if he intended to kill the victims, he reportedly responded, 'God damn right, anybody would have.' According to police reports, Montgomery expressed no remorse for the shooting and said he had made the decision to shoot them earlier that morning after an unrelated contact with police. Montgomery was arrested and booked into jail, with his bond set at $1,000,000.
