PHOENIX — A 43-year-old man has been arrested in the 2013 shooting death of an unarmed security guard at a west Phoenix apartment complex after new witnesses came forward, according to Phoenix police and court records reported by KTAR News.
Joe Gerardo was taken into custody in Globe on Nov. 3 and booked on a first-degree murder charge, police said.
Jeffrey Bellemare, 59, was shot around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 29, 2013, while working security at a complex near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road, according to a probable cause statement.
Witnesses at the time said they saw a man and a woman run from the scene and leave in an older sedan with front-end damage. Investigators found two .40-caliber casings and a cellphone backing, court records say.
In 2015, a woman told investigators her teenage daughter had seen the shooter but was afraid to talk to police. Detectives were unable to identify a suspect then, records show.
Earlier this year, another woman who was a teenager at the time of the killing came forward and identified Gerardo in a photo lineup, according to court records. Other witnesses linked him to the nickname “Tweety,” and police learned he owned a sedan with front-end damage and was known to carry a .40-caliber handgun, the records say.
Gerardo declined to be interviewed after his arrest, police said. Court records did not list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Sources: KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Tellyaddict at English Wikipedia / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
