Glendale man tells police he gunned down victim in murder case, court docs reveal

A Glendale man is in jail after he admitted to police that he gunned down someone as captured by video over the weekend at a north Phoenix apartment complex, according to court documents.

Leroy Junior Allen, 44, was charged with murder in a July shooting death at an apartment complex off West Northern Avenue near North 27th Avenue, according to court records. The male victim's identity was redacted in charging documents as Phoenix police say next-of-kin notification remains pending.Police cornered in on Allen as the suspect through a 2007 white Chevrolet Tahoe whose license plate numbers were seen on surveillance footage and whose VIN was found inside a backpack at the crime scene, according to the charging documents. During a separate investigation in June about the Tahoe being parked at a business, Allen told police he purchased the vehicle and provided them with an address, court documents explained.

Witnesses told police they recognized the Tahoe as belonging to someone named Junior and that the vehicle was present when the victim tried to sell them a handgun, court documents showed. Subsequently, the same witnesses identified Allen as Junior after police showed them his photo and mentioned where he lived, court documents added.

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Phoenix police obtained surveillance video that showed Allen was joined by the victim and a woman at a liquor store a day before the fatal shooting, according to court documents.

Charging documents revealed the surveillance video from the shooting showed a man with physical descriptors matching Allen and traveling in a white Tahoe, according to charging documents. The video also captured a shooting by the man against the victim, charging documents show. The woman, resembling the person seen with Allen and the victim the day before, was present during the shooting caught on video, according to court documents. The woman left with the shooter in a white Tahoe, court documents added.

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Investigators on Sunday evening found Allen and the white Tahoe at a Glendale home, and police arrested him and seized the vehicle, court documents show.

Allen told police he joined the woman in going to the apartment complex where the shooting happened because she was owed money from the victim for the sale of the gun, according to court documents.

Police were told by Allen that the situation escalated after he told the victim to pay the woman and showed the victim a gun he said he could sell him, court documents noted. Allen told police the victim then turned around and pointed a handgun at him, leading him to shoot at the victim, according to charging documents.

Allen told police he tossed the gun into a trashcan near his home, charging documents mentioned.

As of Wednesday, Allen was being held in jail on a $500,000 bond, according to jail and court records.

Allen also was charged with armed robbery with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon by a prohibited person, according to court records. Allen has been convicted of multiple drug related offenses, court and prison records show.

Allen's charge was listed as second-degree murder in initial court documents released Tuesday, but court records on Wednesday showed the charge listed as first-degree murder.His preliminary court hearing is set for July 19, according to court records.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Glendale man tells police he did fatal shooting, court docs state