Police searching for clues in teen’s death
Sep 5, 2013, 7:17 PM | Updated: Sep 11, 2013, 6:14 pm
PHOENIX — Police are searching for clues in a case that left a man with a promising future dead.
“He was the most noble, respectable young man,” said 17-year-old Alexis Urbina-Ochoa’s family member Andrew Soto. “He made friends everywhere he went, you couldn’t help but to like him.”
Urbina-Ochoa stayed home from school on Sept. 3. A family member last saw at 10 a.m. and when his mother returned, she found him beaten and unconscious.
“The thing about a kid like Alexis, he can make friends anywhere he goes, but the more they accomplish, the more jealousy they also create. That’s the only reason I can think of for someone wanting to hurt him,” said Soto.
Investigators are treating his death as a homicide, but they are awaiting autopsy results to determine manner of death. There were no obvious signs of forced entry but investigators believe there are items missing from the home. The motive is not clear at this point but it is possible it is a robbery gone wrong.
Urbina-Ochoa had recently won the USA Nationals for boxing and hoped to become the first Arizonan since Michael Carbajal to represent the state in the Olympics.
