Questions remain following deadly shooting of Mesa mother involving AG investigator

Experts weigh in shooting death of Mesa mother of 7

Days after a mother of seven was shot and killed on her neighbor's doorstep, questions swirl about what exactly happened, and how an investigator with the Arizona Attorney General's Office is involved. FOX 10's Ashlie Rodriguez reports.

MESA, Ariz. - It’s been four days since a Mesa mother of seven was shot and killed by her neighbor, and the Mesa Police Department still hasn't disclosed what happened.

The backstory:

On March 3, they confirmed that the neighbor of 32-year-old Maria Lewis, Dulance Morin — is involved, but they won’t say how. Morin is a law enforcement investigator with the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

The mom was shot at the neighbor's home near Ray Road and Inspirian Parkway. Hours after the shooting Saturday, a repairman was seen removing what looked like a ring camera, and the tile that had her blood on it.

What they're saying:

Her seven children and husband are still in the dark about what happened.

"You shouldn’t have to feel like you can’t go out to your neighborhood and just have a brief walk and feel like you’re going to have to look over your shoulder and get shot," Brian Staple, a friend of Maria Lewis said. "Compared to all the other doors on the block, he has a window, compared to this door. He could have at least seen who was at the window before he just briefly decided to do that."

FOX 10 has yet to receive an official account of what happened around 2 a.m. that Saturday after Morin, who works under AG Kris Mayes, was involved. But police are not saying whether he pulled the trigger.

"Ultimately, a lot of people in the public are wondering what’s going on – or is this a cover-up or a right investigation under the law," Criminal Defense Attorney Benjamin Taylor said. 

Big picture view:

Under Arizona’s Stand Your Ground law, a person is allowed to use force – even deadly force, if they are lawfully present and reasonably believe force is necessary to stop a threat. But even then, these cases are not black and white.

"Her being on his property could be one factor of that decision, but whether that decision was justified or not is more complex in nature than one aspect of the pie," Josh Logan, the co-founder of Guardian Training & Consulting said. 

Dig deeper:

Law enforcement expert Josh Turner said once the crime scene is processed, it’s the homeowners’ duty to clean it up. As for how long it will take Mesa Police to conclude the investigation, he said the paperwork, statements, and video take dozens of hours to process.

"Looking at this case from – just looking on facebook and social media – it’s a very high profile case," Logan said.  "And because of that, typically you look at the higher the profile the less information they’re going to release, until they have 100 percent definitive nature of that."

What's next:

The AG's office confirms Morin is on administrative leave, and his law enforcement status potentially triggering a criminal and administrative investigation.
But qualified immunity doesn’t apply here because the shooting didn’t take place while Morin was on duty.

"The public wants transparency and that’s what the community wants," Taylor said. "That’s what the victims family wants. They want transparency and they want the police department to at least release a statement to figure out what is going on, why are things taking so long and who will be arrested if anybody in this case."

What you can do:

The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with funeral arrangements and lawyer fees.