In the quiet desert community of Golden Valley, Arizona, a dispute between roommates over something as ordinary as unpaid rent escalated into a fatal encounter, ending the life of 49-year-old David Scott Hendrix. On an autumn day, specifically October 3, 2020, the tranquility of the arid landscape was shattered by a single gunshot that would leave one man dead and another facing a murder charge.
David, a man who had relocated to Arizona, was renting a room in the home of 64-year-old Roy Dean Medlin. It was a living arrangement that also included David's wife in the house and his stepson residing in a trailer on the property. However, tensions simmering beneath the surface of this shared household erupted into a physical altercation that culminated in a deadly act of violence.
Following the heated dispute, it was Medlin himself who dialed 911, reporting the shooting to the Mohave County Sheriff's Office. When deputies arrived at the residence on North So Hi Boulevard, they discovered David Scott Hendrix with a fatal gunshot wound. Medlin surrendered to the authorities and was taken into custody, admitting to his involvement in the shooting that he claimed was preceded by a physical fight.
The subsequent investigation led to Roy Dean Medlin being charged with second-degree murder. The legal proceedings that followed would ultimately see him tried and convicted for the killing of his roommate. After a five-day trial, a jury found him guilty, and he was later sentenced to a minimum of ten years in prison. The tragic end to a disagreement over rent serves as a stark reminder of how quickly a conflict can spiral into an irreversible tragedy, leaving a family to mourn the sudden and violent loss of a loved one.
