On the night of September 30, 2021, Ivana D. Liversedge, a 39-year-old White/Caucasian female from Mesa, Arizona, was shot to death during a violent confrontation between neighbors on a residential street near Signal Butte Road and Broadway/Emelita avenues in east Mesa. Police were called just before midnight about gunfire, and responding officers found Liversedge and 54-year-old Shawn M. Conner lying on a sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds; both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Public records and memorials describe Liversedge as a Mesa resident and mother of three who worked in business development and leadership roles; one nonprofit profile notes that she served as a vice president of worldwide strategic growth for an e-commerce IT managed services company and volunteered on boards and with community organizations before her life was “tragically” cut short. She and Conner are variously described in reports as acquaintances, companions, and as sharing a home together, reflecting that they were closely linked in their personal lives.
According to police statements summarized in multiple news accounts, the events leading to the shooting began when Justin Keith Peterson, who lived on the same street with his wife, was outside late at night attempting to speak with Liversedge after what investigators later characterized as a falling-out in a casual romantic relationship involving Peterson, his wife, and Liversedge. Surveillance video described in reports allegedly showed Peterson yelling from across the street and arguing with his wife, after which Liversedge and Conner came out and confronted the couple in the street and a physical fight broke out. Police and prosecutors later suggested that jealousy and an alleged “love triangle” were at the heart of the confrontation.
Investigators reported that both couples produced firearms during the encounter. Mesa police said Peterson retrieved an AK-47-style rifle and, in the middle of the street, fired nearly three dozen rounds toward Liversedge and Conner; one of the victims was armed with a revolver, but did not fire it, according to early police accounts. Neighbors told local media they heard what sounded like roughly two dozen gunshots in rapid succession just before midnight, followed by panicked screams and someone yelling for people to get in a car, as well as a woman crying out that the shooter had been trying to protect her. When officers arrived at approximately 11:49 p.m., they found Liversedge and Conner mortally wounded on the sidewalk near the 700 block of South Del Rancho, close to East Emelita Avenue and South Signal Butte Road.
In the immediate aftermath, Mesa police identified 41-year-old Justin Peterson as the primary suspect. He was arrested and initially booked on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with Liversedge’s killing, along with a charge related to reckless discharge of a firearm, while investigators continued to review evidence and determine charges for Conner’s death. Early reports noted that Peterson’s wife told officers he had opened fire to defend her, and detectives indicated they were examining that self-defense claim as part of the investigation. Neighbors described a history of disturbances at the Peterson residence and told reporters that police had responded there multiple times for domestic-violence-related calls; records cited in news coverage also showed that Justin and his wife Lori Peterson had previously been arrested in 2006 on assault and endangerment charges, contributing to neighbors’ characterization of him as volatile and frequently angry.
Over time, the case proceeded through the courts. Case-tracking summaries and later news coverage state that Justin Peterson was ultimately charged and tried for the deaths of both Liversedge and Conner. He was later found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder—one count for each victim—by an Arizona jury when he was in his early forties. Crime-case databases now list the homicide of Ivana D. Liversedge as “solved,” reflecting Peterson’s conviction and the conclusion of the primary criminal proceedings arising from the late-night neighbor dispute that ended her life.
