PHOENIX — One of two people involved in a "coordinated and deliberate attack" of two Phoenix police officers in 2022 will be facing more than 10 years in prison, the Maricopa County attorney said in a news conference.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said during her bi-weekly news conference that 28-year-old Devonte Martez Thornton, who was identified as the shooter in the 2022 incident, will be sentenced to 14 years in prison. Thornton was arrested on March 14, 2022, just one day after the attack occurred.
“The officers were inches away from death,” Mitchell said in a news release. “We know that the work of a police officer is dangerous as they put themselves in harm’s way, but this was not just being in harm’s way; this was an attempt against their lives.”
At about 1 a.m. on March 13, two officers were parked at QuikTrip near 19th and Glendale avenues when they ran the license plate of a white 2008 Chevrolet station wagon as part of a routine check, police said.
The check came back with a felony warrant for the car's owner, but when officers attempted to approach the vehicle, the driver took off.
The driver of that car, later identified as 18-year-old Javon Michael Beasley, drove west on Glendale Avenue and sped through several red lights as officers tried to stop him, police said.
Officers lost sight of the vehicle but located it near 27th and Maryland avenues. By this point, authorities said that two patrol cars were following behind the suspected vehicle driven by Beasley.
"When [the driver] turned into the neighborhood, he started to drive much slowly and deliberately; that's when officers were shot at," said Sgt. Justice.
Court records show officers were shot at nearly 18 times by a person standing outside an apartment complex. That shooter was later identified as Thornton, Beasley's older brother. Thornton had a previous felony conviction from Missouri which made him a prohibited possessor at the time of the 2022 incident, according to a news release.
Bullets from the gunfire struck the second patrol car. The officer in the passenger seat was shot in the wrist, and his partner was wounded in the eye by shattered glass.
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