Police said detectives linked the case to a nearby home search hours after the fatal shooting.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — A 47-year-old woman was found shot to death inside an SUV in west Phoenix early Thursday, and the boyfriend police identified as a person of interest later died at a nearby home as officers moved in with a search warrant.
Phoenix police said the case began as a shots-fired call and quickly grew into a two-scene investigation in the Maryvale area near 107th Avenue and Indian School Road. The woman was identified as Lori Ann Perez. Investigators later named her boyfriend, 46-year-old Richard Benjamin Charles, as a person of interest. By late morning, police said the immediate danger to the public had ended, but detectives remained in the neighborhood gathering evidence and tracing what led to the killing.
Officers were called to the area around 12:45 a.m. to 2 a.m., according to published police updates carried by local news outlets, after reports of gunfire in a residential stretch north of Indian School Road. When they arrived, they found Perez inside a Nissan Rogue with at least one gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives and crime scene investigators then spread through the neighborhood, closing off part of Heatherbrae Drive as they documented the vehicle, searched for shell casings and interviewed neighbors who had been startled awake. The scene remained active for hours as police worked to identify the victim and determine who had been with her before the shooting.
As detectives processed the shooting scene, they developed information that pointed them to Charles, who lived nearby, according to police accounts reported by Phoenix television stations. Officers with a special assignments unit went to serve a search warrant at his home off 106th Avenue. Police said Charles then suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died at the house. Authorities did not release a motive, say what evidence connected him to the shooting, or explain whether anyone else was believed to have been present during either death. They also did not say whether Perez and Charles had a known history of prior police calls. By about 11:30 a.m., Phoenix police said the incident had been resolved and there was no longer a threat to the community, though investigators asked people to avoid the area while the case remained active.
The killings unfolded in Maryvale, one of west Phoenix’s largest neighborhoods, where major police responses can quickly affect nearby homes, schools and side streets. Television crews at the scene reported seeing SWAT personnel, a mobile command post, patrol officers and yellow crime scene tape spanning parts of the block. Authorities worked two locations at once: the street where Perez was found in the SUV and the home tied to Charles. That visible law enforcement presence added to the sense of disruption for residents who woke up to blocked roads, emergency lights and scattered information. Police have not publicly said how long Perez had been in the vehicle before officers arrived or whether anyone besides neighbors reported hearing the gunfire.
The investigation appears likely to remain a homicide case closed by the death of the suspected shooter unless detectives find evidence that broadens the timeline or adds another participant. Police have not announced any pending charges, which is typical when the primary person of interest is dead. The next steps are expected to include a full review of forensic evidence, autopsy findings and witness statements, along with any search warrant returns and ballistics work. Authorities also may clarify the exact timeline between the shooting scene and the warrant service at the nearby house. As of the latest public updates, Phoenix police had identified both dead adults but had not released a fuller narrative of what happened before the gunfire.
For neighbors, the case landed first as confusion and then as grief. ABC15 quoted resident Shelly Norris as saying the police activity “makes you a little nervous,” especially after she left family members at home while the area filled with officers. Another resident, Daniella Flores, said in Spanish that the killing was frightening because children live nearby. Those reactions reflected a block trying to make sense of two deaths, one street lined with patrol vehicles and a morning that shifted from a routine weekday to a major investigation. Even after the sheltering orders and road closures eased, the neighborhood was left with unanswered questions about how quickly the violence unfolded and whether warning signs were visible beforehand.
The case stood on April 13 with Perez identified as the homicide victim and Charles identified by police as the person of interest who later died. Phoenix police have said the threat to the public has ended; the next milestone is any fuller investigative update or release of additional case details from detectives.
Author note: Last updated April 13, 2026.