Suspect claims he heard voices telling him to shoot neighbor

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - There is new information about a valley man who police say shot and killed his neighbor. Michael Walter Mitchell says a female voice directed him to his neighbor's apartment.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mitchell appeared before a judge at the Fourth Avenue Jail, who told him he was facing first-degree murder charges. At the apartment complex where the shooting happened, a man who knew Mitchell still cannot believe the news.

"He was a really nice guy, really outgoing, it just sucks what happened," said a neighbor.

Police say Mitchell told them he was hearing voices telling him to go downstairs and shoot 29-year-old Pedro Gomez, a man he did not know. Gomez lived in the apartment with his girlfriend and three small children. Authorities say Mitchell shot Gomez in the face and back, and then called 9-1-1 to say he had just killed his neighbor.

Other neighbors say that is not the Michael Mitchell they knew.

"He is always cool with me; I hang out with him a lot. He's into guns and video games, and stuff like that," said a neighbor.

Investigators say Mitchell had been using methamphetamine for about a year and was trying to quit. He had just lost his job and had recently broken up with his girlfriend. He was staying in her apartment directly above the apartment where the shooting happened.

Mitchell remains jailed on a $1 million bond.