On a Wednesday night in June of 1992, the familiar sounds of a Tucson neighborhood were shattered by what one resident mistook for firecrackers. In reality, it was the sound of gunfire that ended three lives at the El Grande Market. Inside the family-owned grocery store, police discovered a scene of violence that had claimed the life of 45-year-old Fred Gee, the store's manager. Also killed were his 75-year-old uncle, Zwan Wong, and a recent employee, 32-year-old Raymond F. Arriola.
Gee and Wong were found deceased at the scene, while Arriola succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.
The investigation into the triple homicide began immediately, with detectives from the Tucson police homicide unit descending on the store at 805 E. 36th St. The motive appeared to be a robbery that had turned deadly. In the initial hours and days that followed, investigators questioned four teenagers but later released them. The community, many of whom had grown up with the Gee family and knew Fred as a kind man who would often extend credit to those in need, was left in shock and anger. The Gee family had deep roots in Tucson, with Fred's father having immigrated from China in 1929 and establishing the store that Fred would go on to manage after serving in the U.S. Air Force and graduating from the University of Arizona.
As the investigation progressed, police began to piece together the events of that fatal night. They were looking for two main suspects, described at the time as a Black male and a Hispanic male, both believed to be around 20 years old. A significant breakthrough came when a fingerprint found on the driver's side window of an abandoned car just blocks from the market was identified as belonging to Christopher McCrimmon. Further evidence came to light linking another individual, whose last name was Fong, to the crime scene through fingerprints found on produce bags near Fred Gee's body. Legal proceedings in the case of State v. Soto-Fong would later shed more light on the tragic and senseless act of violence that cut short the lives of three men.
