15-year-old Arizona girl accused of plotting father’s death with boyfriend
Oct 24, 2017, 10:30 AM | Updated: Oct 25, 2017, 5:48 am
PHOENIX — A 15-year-old girl from a western Arizona city has been arrested in the shooting death of her adoptive father, which authorities believe she plotted for days with her 21-year-old boyfriend, Daniel Stroh.
Authorities responded to a call of an “unknown trouble” at a residence in the area of 373rd Avenue and Buckeye Road in Tonopah, Arizona, a city about 50 miles west of Phoenix, just before 1 p.m. on Monday.
According to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez, the 15-year-old girl made the call in reference to her adoptive father, 59-year-old John Norton, who was reportedly shot in the home.
When police arrived, they declared Norton dead and began investigating the scene and interviewing witnesses.
According to court documents, Stroh and the 15-year-old girl met online approximately two years ago. Stroh tried to contact the girl after she moved away, but Norton warned him to “stay away” from her or he would contact police.
The girl initially told police that Stroh showed up unannounced at her home on Monday and forced his way inside. She told him she was home alone and that her father was out running errands with her younger sister.
According to the girl, Norton later arrived back home and began arguing with Stroh. During the argument, according to court documents, Stroh shot Norton in the torso.
The girl told police that Stroh then turned the gun on her, but she took her younger sister, ran away from the house and sought help from a neighbor. The girl said waited two hours to call 911.
But while investigators were conducting interviews with witnesses, Stroh said the girl gave him the gun and told him to shoot Norton or else she would “shoot [him] herself and commit suicide.”
Stroh told police that he shot Norton in the head and then left the home with the 15-year-old girl, her younger sister and the girl’s baby. He said they got rid of the gun near Interstate 10 and Indian School Road. The gun has not been found.
The girl later told police that she had been having thoughts of killing Norton after he refused to allow her to see Stroh. She said she gave Stroh the gun on Friday and told him to “take care of the problem.”
The pair later confessed to the murder and said it was planned out “several days in advance,” Enriquez said.
Stroh was booked into Phoenix’s Fourth Avenue Jail on one count of first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and one count of tampering with evidence. He will appear in court on Oct. 31.
The 15-year-old girl was booked into the Durango Juvenile Detention Facility and was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and one count of tampering with evidence.
