Man arrested on suspicion of shooting man 24 times in Phoenix
A suspected drug dealer was arrested this week on suspicion of fatally shooting a man two dozen times on Oct. 22 in north Phoenix.DeAngelo L. Robinson, 28, of Glendale, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Abashe Mathis, 31, according to Phoenix police and court records. Robinson was facing seven other felony charges, court documents show.
At about 10:20 p.m. on Oct. 22, officers responded to a shooting near 54th and High streets, near the High Street shopping center and Desert Ridge Marketplace. They found Mathis with several gunshot wounds near a Cadillac Escalade with multiple 9mm casings nearby, according to court documents. Mathis was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.
A witness told police that a person dressed in dark clothing approached her and Mathis as they entered the Escalade and shot Mathis several times before fleeing in a dark SUV, court documents detail. Another witness told police that automatic gunfire could be heard before a black SUV left the scene, according to court documents.
Surveillance video footage corroborated the witnesses' accounts, showing the suspect shot Mathis 24 times from behind with what appeared to be an automatic handgun, according to court documents. The suspect, court documents noted, was wearing a black hoodie with black-and-white tennis shoes and arrived and departed in what was likely a newer model black Chevrolet Traverse.
Additional video footage showed a black Traverse seemingly following Mathis in his Escalade a little more than an hour before the shooting, court documents mention.
On Nov. 8, an informant told detectives that Mathis would steal rugs and money from drug dealers and had many enemies, court documents reveal. The informant further told detectives that Mathis had refused to refund someone who went by the alias Baby D approximately $13,000 for a watch whose gems proved to be fake, documents show. Detectives obtained Baby D's cell phone, which showed he was Robinson, who fit the witnesses' description of the shooter, according to charging documents.
Police found Robinson was listed in a police report with someone whose address showed a black 2021 Traverse listed there, according to court documents.
Robinson's cell phone data showed his device was near cellular towers in the area and time of Mathis' killing, according to charging documents.
"Detectives have worked this case since its onset and ultimately established probable cause to arrest suspect DeAngelo Robinson," police said in a Tuesday morning statement. Robinson was taken into custody on Monday and booked on multiple felonies, according to police.
Police found $25,000 in cash at the home where he was arrested, according to court documents. Charging documents list the cash, along with several empty or partially empty bottles of codeine and a prescription pad found at the home as reasons why Robinson was suspected of being a drug dealer.
Empty or partially empty bottles of promethazine were also found at the home, according to court documents.
Court documents show Robinson was also charged with the felony offenses of possession of a weapon by a prohibited person, endangerment, possessing a forged instrument, money laundering, two counts of narcotic drug violation and possessing or using a weapon in a drug offense.
As of Tuesday, Robinson was being held in jail custody on a $2 million bond, according to jail and court records. His preliminary court hearing was set for Nov. 30, court records show.
Robinson was convicted of aggravated assault on an officer in a 2019 case out of Maricopa County and of breaking and entering in a 2015 case out of Michigan, according to charging documents.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DeAngelo Robinson arrested in Abashe Mathis' fatal shooting in Phoenix
