Mesa police arrest suspect accused of killing owner of shoe repair shop

PHOENIX — Mesa police have arrested a suspect accused of killing the owner of a local shoe repair shop earlier this week.

Lynell Brosier, 65, was arrested Friday night at 5:30 p.m. on first-degree murder and other felony charges in the death of 58-year-old Jesus Fabian De La Rosa, the Mesa Police Department said in a press release on Saturday.

Officers responded on Tuesday just before 12:30 p.m. to Lamb’s Shoe Repair near Main Street and Country Club Drive for reports that the owner was dead in the business.

De La Rosa was found lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to his body, authorities said.

An investigation into the incident revealed De La Rosa made a police report five days prior to his death regarding a stolen firearm.

De La Rosa told officers he believed an unhoused man that was allowed to use the restroom in the business from time to time may have stolen the gun, authorities said.

Family members told police that De La Rosa wore a gun in a holster to work that day. De La Rosa was found still wearing the holster but the gun was missing, authorities said.

Fired cartridges were located at the scene that matched the calibers of the weapon that was previously stolen and the gun De La Rosa was wearing that day, Mesa police said.

Police viewed light rail surveillance video and saw a man witnesses described as having been in the area getting off and on at the stop before and after the murder, authorities said.

The man was wearing a helmet that covered his face and had a walking cane when he first got off the light rail, Mesa police said, and the walking cane was found inside the store during the investigation.

Officers traced a phone that was also stolen from De La Rosa during the incident and found it powered off near a homeless shelter in Phoenix, where Brosier was arrested.

Brosier had the original stolen handgun in his waistband at the time of the arrest, authorities said.

Mesa police described De La Rosa, known as Fabian, as a pillar in the community who “never hesitated to help anyone in need.”

“It is apparent how much he meant to the community in the comments left by over 100 people on our social media platforms,” Mesa police said in the release. “Our hope is that his family sees and reads the comments and knows how much he was loved by seemingly everyone.”

The City of Mesa highlighted De La Rosa in a video earlier this year. He had owned the shoe repair shop since 2005.

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