2015 Tucson homicide timeline

A Tucson rapper shot at a southeast-side apartment complex died Friday at a local hospital from his injuries.

Jeremy High, 24, was found by police Thursday inside an apartment at 3225 S. Wilmot Road with gunshot trauma, said Sgt. Chris Widmer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Officers responded to the apartment complex after reports of a shooting at 10:45 a.m., Widmer said.

The complex is in a neighborhood at South Wilmot Road and East Stella Road.

High was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, said Widmer.

Detectives spoke to witnesses at the scene. No further information about the case was released.

High, who went by the artistic name of Jae High, can be seen on YouTube videos and Twitter.

Some of his songs were "Turn Away", "Betchu Aint Know" and "Make Me Lose It".

High had performed at the former DV8 Nightclub at 5851 E. Speedway.

A felony arrest warrant was issued for the 22-year-old brother of a rapper who was shot last week and died the following day.

Tucson Police homicide detectives were searching for the whereabouts of Elijah Kawon Muhammad Lee Mays, the brother of music artist Jeremy High.

Mays is wanted for second-degree murder in the shooting death of High who was shot Jan. 15 and died Jan. 16, said Sgt. Chris Widmer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

No further information about the case was released Wednesday.

Police ask that anyone with information about Mays call 911 or 88-CRIME.

High, 24, known artistically as Jae High, was shot inside an apartment at 3225 S. Wilmot Road, said Widmer.

Officers went to the apartment complex after reports of a shooting at 10:45 a.m., Widmer said.

The complex is in a neighborhood at South Wilmot Road and East Stella Road.

High can be seen on YouTube videos and Twitter. Local websites and blogs about rap and hip-hop music were posting condolences on their sites about High's death.

Director Jordan Tower, of Jordan Tower Films based in Atlanta, said in an interview last week that he worked with High three years ago on "Dis Mornin," which set off High's music career.

"This was one of his first videos," said Tower Friday. "He was very talented."

"He was putting videos online and trying to get noticed, trying to get that break. "He had a nice catalog of music."

Some of High's other songs were "Turn Away," "Betchu Aint Know" and "Make Me Lose It."

Tucson police are investigating a homicide that occurred Saturday in the area of Interstate 10 and West Miracle Mile, authorities said.

Police received a 911 call at about 3 p.m. saying that a man’s body was found near the opening of a drainage culvert that runs underneath Interstate 10, south of Miracle Mile.

The body had obvious signs of blunt-force trauma, indicative of a homicide, according to a Police Department news release.

Homicide detectives found evidence at the scene indicating that the victim was homeless and living in the area where he was killed.

The victim’s name is being withheld until the next of kin are notified.

Police are asking anyone with information to call 911 or 88-CRIME.

This is the second homicide in Tucson in 2015.

The body of a man found Saturday in a drainage culvert near I-10 and West Miracle Mile was identified as Lanny Fuson.

Fuson, 58, was found near the opening of the culvert by a person who called 911 shortly after 3 p.m., said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Fuson was killed, police said. 

The culvert runs underneath Interstate 10, just south of West Miracle Mile. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Fuson had suffered blunt force trauma, "indicative of a homicide," police said.

Homicide detectives found evidence at the scene which led detectives to believe Fuson was homeless and living in the area where the slaying took place.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME.

A 44-year-old man was taken into custody Wednesday and is facing two counts of first-degree murder in the slaying of a Phoenix couple in 2002, police said.

Brian Ferry was booked into the Pima County jail in connection to the deaths of Charles Russell, 58, and Catherine Nelson, 42, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

On Feb. 2, 2002, the couple traveled to Tucson to purchase a motorcycle, and never returned home, Dugan said. Four days later, a missing persons report was filed with the Phoenix Police Department when Russell and Nelson did not show up for work, said Dugan.

On Feb. 7, 2002, Tucson police assisted in the investigation and found the couple's red Ford F-150 truck abandoned in the parking lot of Santa Cruz Catholic Church at East 22nd Street and South Sixth Avenue, according to a 2010 Star article.

Detectives continued the investigation but were not able to locate the couple. Investigators believed foul play was involved with the couple's disappearance, but did not have additional leads to follow. The case was cleared as an unsolved missing persons case, Dugan said.

New leads developed over the past five years and the cold case homicide unit reopened the case, Dugan said. He said continuous follow-up, forensic evidence and assistance from the Pima County Attorney's Office led to Ferry's arrest.

Detectives ask that anyone with information about the case call 88-CRIME.

No further information was released. 

A body found in a desert area on Tucson's south side Monday has been identified as 48-year-old Mike Chambers, police said.

Homicide detectives are calling Chambers' death "suspicious" and will wait for an autopsy to determine the cause of death, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Shortly after 1 p.m., a person walking through a desert area near East 36th Street and South Country Club Road found the body and called 911, Dugan said. Officers responded to the 2900 block of East 36th Street.

Chambers, who lived in the neighborhood, had "obvious signs of trauma," said Dugan.

Dugan said he did not know how long Chambers had been dead.

The desert area where he was found is frequented by homeless people, said Dugan.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME. 

A homicide investigation is in progress in the area of West 36th Street and South La Cholla Boulevard, police spokesman Sgt. Pete Dugan said.

At about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, a 911 call was made regarding a possible deceased adult female, from a person driving by who saw the woman from the street, near the intersection of West 36th Street and West Mockingbird Lane.

"Investigators responded to the scene and found obvious signs of trauma, indicative of a homicide," Dugan said.

The woman was found in the nearby desert area, he said.

The victim's identity is unknown at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME.

A man wanted in connection with a domestic violence case was shot early Monday by a Marana police officer after a confrontation and died at the hospital.

The incident started about 3 a.m. when Marana police got a call from the Pima County Sheriff's Department seeking help in locating a man they say was involved in a domestic aggravated assault involving a gun, said Sgt. Jose Alvarez, a Marana police spokesman.

The man, later identified by police as 56-year-old Daniel Lawrence Caldwell, reportedly fired his handgun while arguing with his girlfriend.

The sheriff's department told Marana police Caldwell might have rented a room at the Super 8 at 8351 N. Cracker Barrel Road, which Marana officers confirmed. The officers located the man's vehicle at the parking lot of nearby Cracker Barrel restaurant, near Interstate 10 and North Cortaro Road.

Officer Cesar Nelson, a 6-year veteran with Marana police, waited near the vehicle. Video footage showed that the man walked up behind Nelson's patrol vehicle with a gun in his right hand, Alvarez said. 

Investigation revealed that as the officer got out his patrol vehicle and made contact with the man, the man was "in the process of raising the gun," according to Alvarez.

The officer fired at Caldwell, but it was not known Monday morning if there was an exchange of gunfire. Two additional Marana officers arrived on scene and performed CPR. The wounded man was taken to the University of Arizona Medical Center, where he later died. 

Nelson was put on paid administrative leave, as is the standard following any officer-involved shooting. He was not injured in the confrontation.