The sheriff's office was dispatched to a suspected burglary and officers found a man and woman dead inside the residence.
YUMA COUNTY, Ariz. — Police have identified a suspect in the deaths of a man and woman found dead inside a southern Arizona home Wednesday evening, and authorities are investigating the case as a possible homicide.
Yuma County Sheriff's Office Police said officers responded to a home on Chico Lane in Yuma after a call about a possible robbery that had just occurred. The caller went to the scene to check on the elderly couple who lived there, Manuel Marquez, 82, and Patricia Marquez, 79.
When investigators searched the property, they found the couple deceased.
YCSO has not released a cause of death, but is investigating the incident as a homicide.
The Yuma County Sheriff's Office, with the assistance of the Yuma Police Department, executed a search warrant at the residence on Friday, May 3. The suspect, Romeo Arellano, age 19, was arrested and booked into the Yuma County Jail. The teen, a Yuma resident, is charged with two counts of premeditated first degree murder.
This incident remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call 928-783-4427.
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What is Valley?
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix metropolitan area, considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
Besides Phoenix, the Valley also includes other major cities such as:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempeh
- Glendale
- surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or the “West Valley” depends on where it is located in relation to Phoenix.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the Valley region's cities have a combined population of 4,845,832, making it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country, behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
According to the 2020 census, Maricopa County has a population of 4,485,414, making it the fourth most populous county in the United States.
The county is home to approximately 63% of Arizona's population and covers an area of 9,224 square miles, which means the county is larger than seven U.S. states: Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Maricopa County is also home to one of the largest park systems in the country. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks, including hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers, campgrounds, and more.
The county seat is Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the fifth most populous city in the United States according to the census.
The county was named for a Native American tribe called the Maricopa or Piipache.
