In a moment of bravery, a teenage boy's life was tragically cut short when he stepped in to protect his pregnant older sister from her boyfriend. The seventeen-year-old male, Jesus Gutierrez, was shot and killed in a Phoenix home near 71st Avenue and Van Buren Street on a Wednesday night just before midnight. The young man's heroic intervention in a violent domestic dispute ultimately cost him his life.
The series of events began with an argument between 20-year-old Crispin Acevedo and
his 18-year-old pregnant girlfriend. The altercation escalated, with Acevedo allegedly pushing his girlfriend onto a bed and choking her. Alerted by the commotion, the woman's sister knocked on the bedroom door, at which point the pregnant woman was able to move into the hallway and urged her sister to call the police. It was then that Gutierrez entered the room in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, telling Acevedo to calm down.
The two young men began to argue, and the confrontation took a fatal turn when Acevedo grabbed his handgun from the bed and shot Gutierrez. After the shooting, Acevedo reportedly threatened the other siblings in the home with the weapon and then pointed it at himself before fleeing the scene. Gutierrez was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Phoenix police located and arrested Crispin Acevedo the following morning near 83rd Avenue and Thomas Road. It was discovered that Acevedo had prior felony theft convictions and was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm. He was expected to face charges including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and illegal possession of a weapon.
