Left inset: Josue Barreras Anaya (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office). Right inset: Jessica Guzman (GoFundMe). Background: The truck that Josue Barreras Anaya allegedly used to drop off his girlfriend's dead body at a Phoenix Police station after murdering her, cops say (KSAZ/YouTube).
An Arizona man allegedly shot his girlfriend in the head with a gun he keeps under his pillow and then brought her murdered corpse to a Phoenix police station in the bed of his pickup truck.
"He loaded up my sister in the back of his truck like it was roadkill," David Guzman, brother of victim Jessica Guzman, told local TV station KTVK about her boyfriend and alleged killer, Josue Barreras Anaya.
The 36-year-old is charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting Jessica Guzman, 32, at his home during an argument, according to Phoenix police.
Court documents obtained by KTVK describe how Anaya was allegedly asleep in his bedroom with the victim when a gun he keeps under his pillow fell on the ground and startled her. Cops say the two of them began fighting and Anaya claims when he went to pick up the gun Guzman tried to grab it from him and a struggle ensued; two shots were fired. One of them hit Guzman in the head and she was killed, according to the court documents.
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Instead of calling police, Anaya allegedly wrapped Guzman up in a comforter and tossed her in the bed of his GMC Sierra pickup truck. He then drove to the Maryvale Estrella Mountain Precinct on Encanto Boulevard and flagged down Phoenix Police officers who were in the parking lot around 5 a.m. Tuesday.
"When you're a patrol officer, you don't expect somebody to come to you and just tell you that there's an individual deceased in the back of the truck and that you're responsible for, so I'm sure those officers were perplexed," Phoenix Police Sgt. Brian Bower told local Fox affiliate KSAZ.
Authorities processed Anaya's hands for gunshot residue and asked him some "standard procedure questions," according to court documents, before he requested an attorney.
"We all tried to wake her up and make her see the danger that she was in," David Guzman told KTVK about his sister, noting how she said in the past that Anaya had abused and isolated her from family. "And he just somehow, some way, kept on weaseling his way back into her life."
A GoFundMe set up by the Guzman family describes Jessica as a "daughter, sister, and a mother" who leaves behind a "young son."
The description says, "Her son has lost the most important person in his life, and her mother is grieving not only a daughter, but the pillar who helped her through every step of life."
Anaya was being held this week on a $1 million bond and was still behind bars Thursday.
