Inset: Maria Lewis (GoFundMe). Background: The Arizona home where Maria Lewis was allegedly found shot to death on the doorstep (KPNX/YouTube).
The body of an Arizona mother was found on her neighbor's doorstep, with her husband running outside to see her shot dead after noticing police lights through a window while inside with their seven kids. An agent with the state attorney general's office was "involved" in the shooting, according to police.
"I see red and blue lights on the back of the apartments and I came running out and look over," said Maria Lewis' husband, Albert Mendivil, in an interview with local NBC affiliate KPNX. "And that's when police pulled me back."
Lewis, 32, was allegedly shot to death during a confrontation with the neighbor whose house she was at, according to Mendivil. He says investigators told him there was an altercation between them, but it's unclear how Lewis wound up at the neighbor's house. Mendivil told KPNX that the neighbor claimed the shooting was an accident.
The Mesa Police Department has confirmed to Law&Crime that an agent with the Arizona AG's office, identified as DuLance Morin, 47, was "involved in the shooting" but declined to say how.
An investigation is still ongoing, and Morin has not been arrested.
"The information we currently have available is, in the early morning on Feb. 28, officers responded to a residence near the intersection of E. Kinetic Dr and S. Reliance Way for a welfare check call for service," MPD detective and public information officer Jesse Macias told Law&Crime.
"Once on scene, officers located an adult with a gunshot wound. The adult was later pronounced deceased," Macias said. "It has been confirmed that 47-year-old DuLance Morin is involved in the shooting."
The AG's office told Law&Crime on Thursday that Morin was placed on administrative leave after the incident, pending the Mesa Police Department's investigation.
"Morin has been employed by the Attorney General's Office since February 2016," said communications director Richie Taylor in a statement. "The Attorney General's Office is fully cooperating with the Mesa PD investigation and will conduct an internal review."
The AG's office declined to comment further and deferred to Mesa PD for all other questions. Lewis' family has called for murder charges to be filed in the case, according to local Fox affiliate KSAZ.
A GoFundMe launched by the woman's family describes Lewis as someone who "raised seven beautiful children, ranging from 12 years old to 2 years old." The description says she "also leaves behind a husband who is now a widow[er] to 7 of his children as well."
Mendivil told KPNX, "She's a great person. Just lost for words right now."
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