In March of 2021, the life of 31-year-old Derek Michael Runnion, a White/Caucasian male from Yuma, Arizona, was tragically cut short in a brutal and premeditated act of violence. On the evening of March 24, 2021, Runnion left his home with the intention of having his car repaired, a simple errand from which he would never return. Concern grew when he failed to come home, prompting his family to file a missing person's report and begin a desperate search, putting up flyers in the hope of his
safe return.
The search for Derek Michael Runnion came to a devastating end on April 1, 2021, when his body was discovered in a drainage tunnel in Winterhaven. The condition of his remains spoke to the extreme violence of his final moments; he had been stabbed in the back and neck, shot, and his body had been burned. The investigation into his horrific death would soon uncover a dark plot born from a connection made through a gay dating app.
The investigation led to the identification of two suspects: Erick Chavez and his girlfriend, Jonissa Jones. It was revealed that Runnion had met Chavez through the dating app. Jones was aware of Chavez's bisexuality and was reportedly accepting of it, with the condition that he not be unfaithful. However, her anger over Runnion's sexual orientation became the motive for his murder. Court documents and Facebook messages between Chavez and Jones exposed a calculated plan to end Runnion's life. The messages detailed their intent, with Chavez instructed to shoot Runnion and Jones to stab him if he screamed.
In the face of the evidence against them, both Jonissa Jones and Erick Chavez pleaded guilty to their roles in the murder of Derek Michael Runnion. Jones entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder and was subsequently sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Chavez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, claiming that Jones had threatened his family to coerce his participation in the crime; his sentencing is currently pending. For Runnion's family, the legal proceedings have brought a semblance of closure, though they have expressed that no sentence can truly deliver justice or bring back their beloved Derek.
