A 15-year-old Arizona girl and her 21-year-old boyfriend are facing murder charges in the shooting death of the girl’s father in a rural home 50 miles west of Phoenix.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies found 59-year-old John Norton dead inside the home in Tonopah early Monday afternoon.
According to probable cause statement filed in court, the teenager, who has a seven-month-old baby, initially told deputies that her ex-boyfriend showed up unannounced at 1pm, forced his way into the home near 373rd Avenue and Buckeye Road in Tonopah and got into an argument with her while her father was away running errands.
Couple charged: Daniel Stroh, 21 (pictured left in mugshot), and his 15-year-old girlfriend (pictured with Stroh, right), have been charged in the killing of the girl’s father. The girl is not being identified because of her age
Crime scene: John Norton, 59, was found fatally shot near 373rd Avenue and Buckeye Road in Tonopah, Arizona, Monday
After processing the scene, deputies became suspicious of the teenage girl’s story that a former boyfriend shot her dad
When Norton returned, the man shot him in the torso, prompting his daughter to flee along with her 13-year-old sister.
After processing the crime scene and interviewing witnesses, deputies grew skeptical of the girl’s version of events and came to suspect her and her current boyfriend, 21-year-old Daniel Stroh, in Norton’s killing.
When she was questioned a second time, the victim’s daughter admitted that she and Stroh killed Norton because she was angry at him that he was refusing to let her older boyfriend visit her.
The 15-year-old girl also revealed that she and Stroh planned to shoot Norton for three days, according to court documents.
Premeditated: The 15-year-old girl (pictured with Stroh) eventually confessed that the pair planned to shoot Norton for three days because she was angry at him
Stroh also confessed to his role in the killing, telling investigators that his girlfriend pressured him to shoot her father, and even provided him with the murder weapon, a .45 Long Colt Revolver, which the accomplices later threw away, reported AZCentral.com.
The 21-year-old, who on Facebook repeatedly referred to the 15-year-old girl as his ‘wife’ and claimed that the two got married in 2015, told deputies that the teenager warned him that if he refused to shoot her father, she would do it herself and then commit suicide.
AZFamily.com reported that a judge set Stroh’s bond at $1million and ordered him booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and tampering with evidence.
His girlfriend was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, and taken to a juvenile facility.