Man confesses from hospital after 75-year-old found dead in Phoenix apartment

A man called Phoenix police from a hospital and said he wanted to confess to hurting a 75-year-old who had just been found dead inside an apartment.

Detectives are now investigating the death as a homicide.

Officers were called about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday to an apartment near 10th Street and Devonshire Avenue, north of Indian School Road, the Phoenix Police Department said.

Police said the victim’s daughter went to the apartment when she had not heard from him for several days.

Officers arrived to find the man, later identified as Fred Ceyala, with “obvious trauma.” Phoenix firefighters pronounced him dead at the scene.

While officers were still at the apartment, police received a call from a man at a hospital who said he had hurt the victim and wanted to confess, according to the department.

Officers went to the hospital and took him into custody. Police did not immediately release his name or say what charges he faces.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office will determine the official cause of death.

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