Man charged with felony murder in connection with fatal Phoenix police shooting

PHOENIX — The man who was the subject of a shooting call last month where a Phoenix police officer fatally shot the wrong man was charged with felony murder Monday.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) identified 33-year-old Edgar Ledezma Garcia as the man who allegedly broke into a home in Laveen and shot someone before a Phoenix police officer wrongly killed 36-year-old Christian Diaz Rendon on Jan. 26.

Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano confirmed the officer killed the wrong man on Friday. That officer has since been identified as Jason Valenzuela.

According to MCAO, Garcia is being prosecuted under felony murder, which is a law that allows a defendant to be charged with first-degree murder if a death occurred during the commission of a dangerous felony.

Garcia also faces charges of first-degree burglary, kidnapping, disorderly conduct, four counts of discharging a firearm at a structure and three counts of aggravated assault. He is being held on a $1 million bond.

Police also released a Critical Incident Briefing Video on Monday that contained multiple 911 calls, bodycam footage from two officers and surveillance footage from the residence.

Details on the shooting where Phoenix police killed the wrong man

Officers responded to a shooting call at a house near 73rd Drive and Lower Buckeye Road around 6:20 p.m. on the day Rendon was killed.

The initial media advisory from police said two men were shot during the incident, one of whom died, and another was detained and hospitalized with injuries unrelated to gunfire. The advisory didn’t specify who fired any of the shots.

A Jan. 28 update identified Rendon as the person who died, but police didn’t say who fired the shot or shots that killed him until Giordano’s statement on Friday.

“They shot the wrong guy,” Jarvis Gonzalez, who lives in the home, told 12News reporters after the shooting. “They shot my stepdad in the face.”

Gonzalez later told KTAR News 92.3 FM that Garcia is the landlord’s son.

“He forced himself into the house, where he then shot my little brother in the leg and then my father took care of the situation,” Gonzalez said. “He got the guy on the ground. He got the firearm out of his hand, so the firearm was on the floor, far away from them.”

Gonzalez has also called for Officer Valenzuela to lose his badge and said he should serve time in prison.

Media reports also said the person injured by gunfire was shot in the leg before police arrived.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Kevin Stone and Heidi Hommel contributed to this report. 

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