In a quiet Mesa, Arizona, apartment on the evening of April 3, 2023, a devastating scene unfolded, leaving a family shattered and a community in shock. The life of 46-year-old Aide D. Popoca was tragically cut short in an act of violence that also claimed her teenage daughter.
The grim discovery was made by Popoca's boyfriend when he returned home from work to the apartment he shared with her and her children at 640 W. 8th Ave. Inside, he found a scene of unimaginable horror.
Aide, her 21-year-old son Rafael Popoca, and her 14-year-old daughter, Ashley Popoca, were all deceased, each in a different room of the home.
Responding to a 911 call around 7:35 p.m., Mesa police officers arrived at the apartment complex near 8th Avenue and Country Club Drive. Their investigation quickly pointed towards a murder-suicide. Detectives concluded that Rafael Popoca had shot and killed his mother, Aide, and his younger sister, Ashley, before turning the gun on himself.
The motive for the horrific act remains unclear, leaving friends, family, and the wider community to grapple with the sudden and violent loss. The investigation by the Mesa Police Department confirmed the sequence of events, bringing a somber closure to the case with no outstanding suspects and no arrests to be made.
