Man sentenced to life in prison for girlfriend's murder in Tempe: MCAO

PHOENIX - A man will spend the rest of his life behind bars, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, in connection with a shooting that left his girlfriend dead in the East Valley.

What we know:

According to a statement released on April 14, a jury found 23-year-old Adrian Aguilar guilty of a count of first degree murder, a count of kidnapping, and two counts of aggravated assault in February 2026.

Per court documents related to the case, Aguilar was given a life sentence for first degree murder. He was given an additional 16 years for kidnapping, and an extra 10 years for each of the aggravated assault charges. The two aggravated assault charges are listed as being served concurrently, meaning Aguilar was given an extra 26 years on top of his life sentence.

Court documents state that Aguilar began serving his sentence on April 2.

The backstory:

The murder involving Aguilar happened in June 2023. At the time, Aguilar was 20. Per MCAO's statement, Aguilar was driving the victim around Tempe when he saw a text in the victim's phone from another man.

"Aguilar demanded that the victim tell him if she was cheating on him and threatened to shoot her if she would not tell him the truth. After the victim repeatedly denied having a relationship with someone else, Aguilar shot her," read a portion of the statement. "Over the next 45 minutes, the defendant drove around Tempe repeatedly shooting the victim."

Adrian Aguilar

Officials with MCAO said Tempe Police were later called to the area of 48th Street and Broadway, after a witness saw Aguilar standing outside his car, and firing multiple shots at the passenger seat before walking away.

"When police arrived, they found Aguilar near the crime scene with a gunshot wound claiming that his car had been shot up," officials with MCAO wrote. "Police discovered several inconsistencies with Aguilar’s story and after additional interviews, he ultimately confessed to shooting the victim because he thought she disrespected him. He also admitted to shooting himself in the shoulder."

The victim, per MCAO, suffered 11 gunshot wounds to various parts of her body, along with other injuries.