Teen allegedly shot, killed by girlfriend’s stepbrother while at her house to make Christmas cookies

GILBERT, Ariz. (KTVK/KPHO/Gray News) - A 16-year-old Arizona boy died 10 days after he was allegedly shot by his girlfriend’s stepbrother while at her house to make Christmas cookies.

Gilbert Police say a 16-year-old boy died last Tuesday, 10 days after he was allegedly shot by his girlfriend’s stepbrother, 21-year-old Rael Sanchez. The victim had been at his girlfriend’s house Dec. 13 to make Christmas cookies, according to Courtney Sullivan, an attorney with Boesen & Snow Law who is representing the victim’s family.

During a Friday court appearance, a state prosecutor called the incident a “horrific and unprovoked shooting of an innocent teenage victim.”

Sanchez was initially booked on a charge of attempted second-degree murder, but following the 16-year-old’s death, his charges have been upgraded to first-degree murder. He remains in custody, and his new bond was set at $2 million cash.

A strange string of events led up to the shooting, according to court documents. The victim’s girlfriend reportedly told police Sanchez asked her boyfriend for his phone number, and when he said no, the suspect asked if he wanted his number then laughed and left the room.

Later, the couple went outside to the back patio, where they encountered Sanchez again. The suspect was allegedly slurring his words and acting aggressively toward the victim, saying, “You ain’t s***. You ain’t about s***.”

The victim’s girlfriend also told police that Sanchez was holding a bag of an unknown substance, repeatedly saying “take me to Asia” to her boyfriend, and added her boyfriend looked fearful. The couple went back inside the house, and that’s when the girlfriend told police she heard a loud “pop” and saw the victim fall to the floor.

Sanchez allegedly fled the scene and was picked up by police in Phoenix the next day. According to court documents, he refused to speak with detectives and invoked his right to an attorney.

Family members told police that Sanchez was having mental health issues.

The community is now grieving the loss of the 16-year-old victim. His friend, Mariah Rios, said students will be making T-shirts in his honor.

“We know he’d be smiling at us from heaven,” Rios said. “I can’t imagine. I said so many prayers for his family because I can’t imagine how it is to lose a son.”

Neighbor Sarah Harper, whose child heard the gunshot and called 911, said the timing makes the tragedy even more difficult.

“There’s not a good time to have this kind of devastation in your family; it’s harder around the holidays, for a lot of reasons,” she said.

Harper said this level of violence is uncommon for the area.

“We don’t have this kind of thing here,” she said. “It has been a reminder that, in a time when it’s really easy to be disconnected from your neighbors, to not be.”