Four teenagers have been arrested in connection to the murder of 17-year-old Marc Leyva, who was shot and killed in November.
Police say that 18-year-old Dareon Harris, 19-year-old Leonard Brown, 18-year-old Takari Humphreys and an unidentified boy under the age of 18 were involved in a premeditated robbery on Nov. 28 that resulted in Leyva's death.
Family told Scripps News Phoenix that Leyva was shot outside an apartment complex near 7th and Southern Avenues while he was visiting a friend in the city. He was taken to a hospital for treatment after being found but died of his injuries.
Scripps News Phoenix / Rosario Canales: Marc Leyva is pictured.
Details regarding the robbery and what linked the teens to the crime have not yet been released.
All four teenage suspects were booked on charges including first-degree murder, attempted robbery and aggravated assault.
Leyva was the fifth teenager in the greater Phoenix metro area to be shot and killed in recent weeks. The deadly incident was also the second deadly shooting involving a minor within a matter of hours in the same area, with another 17-year-old having died after being shot the same day.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell addressed the crisis the day after Leyva died.
"We've become aware that there is a glitch — for lack of a better term — in the law, where we have parents that are calling the police saying, ‘We don't want our child to have a gun,' but yet, the law allows a child to possess a gun within the house. And so, we've asked the legislature to take a look at that and to fix that loophole," she said.
