Two men were arrested in connection with a violent confrontation at a South Side residence that left one man dead from a gunshot, and another pistol-whipped Monday.
The incident stemmed from a drug deal gone bad, officials said Tuesday.
One of the people in the home where the shooting occurred had set up a deal to sell a small amount of marijuana, said Pima County Sheriff’s Bureau Chief Rick Kastigar.
“The evidence we have from victims and witnesses at the home was this wasn’t a random home invasion, but more of a drug ripoff,” Kastigar said.
Four men came to the house with guns and then some came inside and violently confronted the four people there, one of whom was a 15-year-old boy, Kastigar said. The ensuing altercation left Oscar Adrian Herrera, 20, dead and another man, also 20, with a head injury.
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Two of four men authorities were looking for in connection with the slaying were arrested Tuesday and are now facing first-degree murder charges, said Deputy Dawn Hanke, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.
David Ronald Kuhns Jr., 23, and Taylor Mitchell Robbins, 18, were booked into the Pima County jail Tuesday night. Hanke did not know if either of the men was the shooter. Herrera and the other man were visiting the residence in the 5800 block of South Helena Stravenue, near East Benson Highway and South Alvernon Way, authorities said.
A 20-year-old man who lived at the house with his family was also at the home. The 15-year-old was a relative of the family and had been staying with them, said Sgt. Jesus Lopez, head of the Sheriff’s Department’s homicide unit.
Several of those at the home planned to take part in the apparent drug transaction, Lopez said. He would not reveal who specifically played what part because of the investigation.
Investigators did not find marijuana at the home but they did find drug paraphernalia and some packaging equipment, Kastigar said.
The occupants of the home weren’t immediately cooperative with investigators, Kastigar said.
They originally told investigators they were playing video games when the shooters arrived, but that turned out not to be true, Lopez said.
Authorities took Kuhns and Robbins — both of whom live in the Tucson area — in to custody Tuesday, Hanke said.
According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Kuhns served little more than a year in prison for burglary, disorderly conduct and theft. He was released last February.
Online court records show he has also been arrested on narcotics and marijuana charges, as well as aggravated assault.
Online court records do not show a criminal history for Robbins.
The Sheriff’s Department is still looking to identify the other two individuals who were present at the time of the shooting, Hanke said.
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