Man sentenced to 30 years in prison for deadly assaults on homeless individuals in Phoenix

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attacking four homeless individuals with a hammer in Phoenix, killing a 74-year-old, officials announced Tuesday.

Mahrion Alexio Mendonca pleaded guilty in September to one count of second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault with serious physical injury, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

Mendonca attacked the first two victims, one of whom was asleep, on Sept. 29, 2025, near Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street.

He also attacked the other two victims while they were sleeping on Oct. 1, 2025. He circled the block before he struck them in the head multiple times, prosecutors said.

The victims were left with permanent injuries from the assaults. One of them is now wheelchair bound and cannot speak.

“The brutality of this crime is difficult to overstate. Some of the victims were sleeping and did nothing to provoke this violence. They were not looking for a confrontation,” County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a news release. “One man lost his life in a brutal hammer attack, and three other victims were left with physical and psychological injuries they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. While this sentence cannot restore what was lost or erase the pain these victims carry, it holds the defendant accountable for the profound harm he caused.”

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