An employee of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office has been indicted over the fatal shooting of a mother of seven outside a home in Mesa, Arizona.
Dulance Marciano Morin faces one felony count of negligent homicide after a Maricopa County grand jury returned an indictment dated 10 September.
Maria Ernestina Lewis, 32, was found with a gunshot wound near the front door of Morin’s home at about 2.45am on 28 February. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mesa shooting indictment
Mesa police said the shooting happened in a residential area near Ray Road and Ellsworth Road. Detectives later identified Morin, who worked as an investigator for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, as being involved.
Police submitted a recommended negligent homicide charge to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in March, following search warrants, interviews and forensic work.
Documents relating to the case say Lewis had argued with her husband before going to Morin’s doorstep. A neighbour reportedly heard shouting at about 2.15am.
Morin told investigators that Lewis was banging on his door. He said he warned her that he had a gun, and that she replied that she was armed as well.
He said he could not remember the door opening or pulling the trigger, but acknowledged that the shot had been fired from his hand and described it as an accident. Investigators found one spent cartridge at the scene.
When officers arrived, Morin was reportedly on his knees on the porch with his hands raised and was crying.
The Attorney General’s Office previously disputed the police recommendation, saying its own review did not indicate that Morin had committed a crime and that the evidence did not support negligent homicide when considered alongside self-defence laws.
In a statement, the office said Morin remained employed in an administrative role and would continue in that position unless convicted. Attorney General Kris Mayes believes he is not guilty and will be acquitted, it added.
Lewis’s husband has said the couple had seven children. The date of Morin’s trial has not been announced.
