An investigation into a young woman’s murder continues after the Phoenix Police Department’s case against a young Phoenix man was sent back to detectives by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Judvian Gadson-Scott, 19, was never indicted in the murder of Destiny Hernandez, 18, though he was arrested on suspicion of it.
Instead, he was indicted and later pleaded guilty to a prohibited weapons possession charge.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Margaret LaBianca sentenced Gadson-Scott to two years for the charge on Thursday.
According to court records filed by police, a group of men wearing ski masks broke into Hernandez’s home on July 13. They shot into her bedroom, killing her and injuring an unidentified man who would survive the gunshots.
Detectives watching Gadson-Scott as part of a separate investigation arrested him the next day on the weapons charge. They said in court filings they saw him walk to a car holding a Draco pistol that matched one used in the murder.
Draco pistols are Romanian semi-automatic guns that resemble smaller versions of the popularized AK-47. The pistol usually holds large amounts of bullets. According to police, this model could hold 60 rounds.
Court records describe one witness looking out his window that night and seeing a man jump into a car that could have been a “Chrysler 300 or a Cadillac.”
A GPS tracker had been placed on a silver Chrysler through a search warrant by detectives. They claim that Gadson-Scott was “known” to drive the Chrysler. Police did not reveal what investigation led them to apply a GPS tracker to the Chrysler.
Police say GPS location data placed the Chrysler at Hernandez’s house the night of the murder and also at the homes of Gadson-Scott’s mother and girlfriend that same day.
The police court records also describe officers finding the machine gun in Gadson-Scott’s attic that matched the style used in the murder. They said the casings found at Hernandez’s murder were fired from the gun.
In December, police booked Gadson-Scott in the killing and suggested to the county attorney that he be charged with first-degree murder.
But the County Attorney’s Office sent the case back to detectives to be further investigated.
During questioning, Gadson-Scott denied being involved in the shooting.
For now, the murder case remains open. Gadson-Scott will be serving time in prison for the prohibited possession felony.
During his sentencing, Gadson-Scott told Judge LaBianca that he understood that violating the weapons charge was wrong and that he wanted to distance himself from the type of trouble that landed him in prison.
He had just had a baby, he said, and that had changed him.
Source: Azcentral
