On the morning of September 1, 2024, construction business owner Alan David Whitworth, a 48-year-old White male, was working at a job site near 39th Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix when an argument with a man at the site escalated into deadly violence. Whitworth and a younger coworker were reportedly repairing or packing up after fixing a fence at the location when they were confronted by the suspect.
Witnesses and official accounts describe a verbal dispute that quickly became heated, with the suspect engaging the two workers before leaving briefly and then returning as the confrontation continued. Shortly afterward, multiple gunshots were fired, and both workers were struck. Emergency responders arrived to find Whitworth gravely wounded; he was pronounced dead at the scene, while his coworker was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.
The shooting came as a profound shock to Whitworth's family and to those close to the construction crew. Public tributes and online memorials describe him as a small business owner and a central figure in the lives of his children, fiancée, and extended family. In the immediate aftermath, local media covered emotional pleas from loved ones asking for information and emphasizing how suddenly a routine workday was shattered. Authorities confirmed that the gunfire was not random; investigators said the victims had been specifically involved in an argument with the suspect moments before the shooting, and that both men were shot multiple times, including after they had fallen to the ground.
In the days that followed, Phoenix police and community partners intensified the search for the shooter. Silent Witness, a local tip line program, issued a homicide flyer naming Whitworth as the victim and appealing to the public for any details that might identify the person responsible. The flyer noted that Whitworth and his coworker were shot while working construction at the site shortly after 8 a.m., and that the attacker fled immediately afterward. A reward was offered for information leading to an arrest, and investigators reviewed surveillance footage from nearby businesses while canvassing the area for witnesses. Media advisories from the Phoenix Police Department reiterated that detectives believed the confrontation at the construction site directly preceded the shooting and urged anyone with knowledge of the incident to come forward.
By mid-September, police announced that a suspect had been identified and arrested. According to court records and police statements summarized in news reports, investigators focused on 31-year-old Marquea Cato after reviewing surveillance footage from businesses around the scene and developing leads that connected him to the confrontation at the job site. Authorities say witnesses described a man arguing with the two workers, stating he was going to get a gun, leaving briefly, and then returning with a firearm before shooting both men and fleeing. Detectives ultimately tracked Cato to a marijuana dispensary where he was working as an armed guard; he was detained there, and a handgun matching the description of the weapon used in the construction-site shooting was recovered. Phoenix police reported that Cato would be booked into jail on charges of murder and aggravated assault in connection with Whitworth's death and the wounding of the second worker. News coverage emphasizes that these are allegations, and the case remains subject to the judicial process as it moves through the courts.
