A suspected squatter shot the tenant to death after taking over a vacant Phoenix home this month, according to court records.
Another tenant was also shot, but survived the altercation with illegal occupant Refugio Jimenez, 49. According to Phoenix 12 News, the victims included 29-year-old Rashard Johnson, who was killed, and a woman who was shot in the head.
Himentz reportedly lived across the street in a vacant house. The tenants involved sometimes showered the squatters, but then-property manager Nico Byrd said Jimenez was told to leave.
“But then they were told they were not allowed to enter the premises,” Bird told a local news outlet.
He said the squatters still living there began stealing food and damaging property.
“We locked the house, and the squatters were so enraged by what happened that one of the tenants tried to force them out of the house and a gunshot went off,” Bird said.
When Johnson told Jimenez he couldn’t be on their property, Jimenez left and returned with a gun, according to court documents. At that point, he shot Johnson several times.
Three days later, Jimenez was arrested wearing a bulletproof vest at another facility in Phoenix. Police also found methamphetamine in his possession.
Jimenez claimed she shot Johnson in self-defense because he fired the gun at her, but police did not identify any other shell casings at the crime scene.
A Maricopa County police officer removes squatters from a home in Phoenix, Arizona, on September 30, 2020. An unrelated squatter is accused of fatally shooting the tenant at a Phoenix home this month. A Maricopa County police officer removes squatters from a home in Phoenix, Arizona, on September 30, 2020. An unrelated squatter is accused of fatally shooting the tenant at a Phoenix home this month. John Moore/Getty Images
Byrd said that since the squatters moved in, the tenants have had to face a reduced quality of life and potentially violent situations.
“They feel like the housing situation was much better six months ago, but they didn’t understand why until a lot of the homeless people came here and the squatters came,” Bird said.
“When he felt like something wasn’t going his way, he did what he wanted. So now, yeah, I have a resident who passed away. And I wish he was alive. I have a crying girlfriend here.”
Bird said when police previously responded to reports of squatters, they dismissed the problem as homeless and left without doing anything.
“They’ll come here and say, ‘He’s just a homeless guy,’ and sometimes that homeless guy becomes the guy who commits the crime,” Byrd said.
Jimenez faces seven felonies, including first-degree murder.
Alan Chan, a national title and escrow expert, said while squatter murders are rare, it’s not out of the realm of possibility when dealing with squatters occupying vacant properties. spoke.
“When you’re involved with people who have committed crimes, it may not be unusual for the crime to escalate over time,” Chan told Newsweek. “Not all squatters become violent, but those who were predatory in nature may also have more violent tendencies.”
Ben Caballero, a Texas-based broker, said many squatter incidents in the United States stem from a lack of law enforcement.
“When the rewards for crime are greater than the risks, unethical people make simple business decisions and commit more crimes,” Caballero told Newsweek. “Unless that is reversed, I don’t see any reason for society to improve.”
Ryan McCall, principal at McCall, Sweeney & Silva and an eviction law expert, says that especially if the homeowner doesn’t take proactive steps to evict the squatter from the property. He said squatters are generally not a priority for law enforcement.
“This is a tragic situation that, unfortunately, is becoming more common in the United States,” McCall told Newsweek. “It is nearly impossible for parties who do not own property to remove squatters, and in many cases they use trespassing and other minor criminal violations against squatters as a means of deterring this type of activity. The only option left is to pursue the
