Friends and family grieve southern Arizona man who died in shooting

The family and friends of a young man who died in an August shooting in Tucson, that also killed three others including a Pima County constable, are still grieving the loss and are critical of local officials' response.

Elijah Miranda, 25, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, was sleeping on his friends’ couch after his late-night shift ended at McDonald's.

His friends had left the apartment, and let him stay behind when their neighbor Gavin Lee Stansell went on a shooting rampage during his eviction killing Miranda, Constable Deborah Martinez-Garibay and Apartment Manager Angela Fox, before killing himself on August 25.

'Horrifying and inexcusable': Tucson constable shooting leaves 4 dead. What we know

According to an incident report, Fox was accompanying Martinez-Garibay to evict Stansell who had reportedly threatened his neighbors and a previous apartment manager. Fox’s family filed a claim against Pima County and the Estate of Deborah Martinez-Garibay for $50 million, citing negligence.

The day Elijah Miranda died, his sister Jennifer Miranda had finished working a shift with him at McDonald's. He had recently been promoted to manager.

“We were both just getting out of work, and he got a ride from Brian, and they took me home,” Jennifer Miranda said. Her last words to him were “see you later.”

Little did she know, that was the last time she would see him.

Miranda was trying to turn his life around

Elijah Miranda’s promotion to manager at work showed his efforts to turn his life around.

Jennifer Miranda said that after a short stint experimenting with drugs and alcohol and running away to Texas a year or two ago, he had returned to Tucson to make things right, she said.  He was planning to go back to school.

Jennifer and Elijah Miranda were close growing up. With their single mother working long hours as a nurse, and their dad in and out of their life, they leaned on each other.

“Elijah was always ready to help anybody in need. Very friendly with everybody, always talking to people,” Jennifer Miranda said.

When Elijah Miranda was 11, he joined Dancing in the Streets Arizona, a performing arts organization geared toward at-risk youth in South Tucson after seeing his brother participate.

“He was a great student. He was a gentle giant,” said Joseph Rodgers, who runs the nonprofit dance organization with his wife Soleste Lupu. The after-school program was his second home.

However, Rodgers noted that Elijah Miranda had a lot of stress in his life.

Having an absent father, and later the death of his father, as well as depression, according to a cousin, were some of the struggles Elijah Miranda faced growing up.

Rodgers became a father figure to Elijah Miranda, bringing him to and from dance school and even attending parent-teacher conferences at school.

Friends and family critical of local officials' response

In an emotional speech during a March Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting, Rodgers and Lupu railed against the Pima County Board of Supervisors and Tucson officials after finding out allegations of the constable that detailed how she was not properly trained, was not following protocol and reportedly had drugs and alcohol in her system.

“We are extremely distressed that the county and city did not recognize to his family the death of this treasured tribal member,” Lupu said tearfully, noting how the constable was honored while there was little acknowledgement of Elijah.

She pleaded with the county supervisors to call his mother or “acknowledge anything.”

“His life mattered just as well as the constable and all the lives that were taken that day,” she said.

Elijah Miranda’s cousin Nikki Miranda reiterated this statement, noting how often stories in Indigenous communities go unknown with little acknowledgement.

She noted how stories among Indigenous communities often “get pushed to the back” and often have shorter lifespan in the news.

Nikki Miranda said that while what happened to her cousin was awful, she knows he would be grateful his friends did not die that fateful day.

“The family had just left, he had stayed behind,” Nikki Miranda said. “If it was the other way around, he would tell me he’d be okay that this happened because at least the family is safe, and the kids are safe.”

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. To support regional Arizona news coverage like this, make a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Friends and family grieve Elijah Miranda, who died in Tucson shooting