2nd person sentenced to prison for deadly 'The Zone' beating: MCAO

The Zone murder: 2nd man sentenced to prison

Prosecutors in Maricopa County say a second person has been sentenced for his role in the killing of another man at a Phoenix homeless encampment known as "The Zone" back in 2023.

PHOENIX - Officials with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office say a person has been sentenced to decades in prison for his role in a murder that happened at a homeless encampment in Phoenix that was known as "The Zone."

What we know:

According to a statement released on April 28, 22-year-old Isaiah Malik Baskin has been sentenced to 38.5 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping.

Court documents related to Baskin's case show he was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison for kidnapping, and 25 years in prison for second-degree murder, with a credit of 1,129 days for his murder sentence. The two sentences are to be served consecutively.

The backstory:

According to prosecutors, the crime happened back in March 2023, when Baskin and another man named Dave Dinkins stomped and beat Rugwiro at The Zone.

Left to right: Dave Dinkins, Geoffrey Rugwiro, and Isaiah Baskin

"Surveillance video showed them moving Geoffrey’s body in a shopping cart and throwing him into a dumpster. Baskin is then seen on video using a 2x4 wooden plank to deliver dozens of blows into the dumpster in the area where the victim’s head was located. He then gave Dinkins a lighter to set the dumpster on fire," read a portion of the statement.

Rugwiro, per prosecutors, had arrived at The Zone only hours before his death, and had made plans with his brother to pick him up the next day.

"[Rugwiro's] family didn't know what happened to him until his body was identified months later," read a portion of MCAO's statement.

"It took us a lot of time to find out it was him," Rugwiro's brother, Vincent Kayitare, recounted in a 2025 report. I had to take a DNA test to make sure they matched the right person," Kayitare

In January 2025, Dinkins, who was 25 at the time, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for his role in Rugwiro's death.

What they're saying:

"[Rugwiro] was dedicated to his family and, as a human being, deserved better than to be beaten and discarded in the trash," said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, in the statement.