Police looking for leads in man’s murder [RE-BROADCAST OF 7/30/2012]
Nov 14, 2016, 9:55 AM
(Silent Witness Photo)
If you ever had the chance to meet Adrian Arias-Ruiz, you probably would have liked him.
His cousin, Jose, said he got along with everyone. Arias-Ruiz was about to turn 24 and wanted to go to barber school.
“He got into cutting people’s hair and really enjoyed it,” Jose said. “He cut all of our hair.”
Arias-Ruiz also liked to golf and race R/C nitro cars.
Jose said they used to get together on Sundays and play football or go hiking.
Arias-Ruiz was 12 when he came to Arizona to live with Jose, who became his legal guardian. He wasn’t a troublemaker and wasn’t involved in gangs.
“We weren’t raised that way,” Jose said.
Jose can’t figure out why anyone would want to murder this likable young man who had a nice home, was married, and had two small children — a 3 year-old-girl and a 1-year-old boy.
Thursday, May 23, 2012, at about 10 p.m., Arias-Ruiz was standing in his driveway when three men drove up in a dark-colored SUV and fatally shot him.