ARIZONA, USA — Court documents reveal additional details in the first-degree murder case against former Arizona Wildcats football player Davonte' Neal.
Neal was arrested earlier this month in Idaho after a Maricopa County Grand Jury indicted him for the murder of 25-year-old Bryan Burns in November 2017.
According to court documents, the shooting may have stemmed from Neal being jealous that Burns was in a relationship with his daughter's mother.
On Nov. 11, 2017, around 3 a.m., Burns was shot in his car after someone sideswiped his vehicle and fired several shots into the vehicle near Interstate 10 and Elliot Road in Phoenix.
Burns' girlfriend said that he had called her and told her that someone in a gray or silver car had been following him, according to court documents.
The girlfriend said she believed Neal to be involved, telling investigators that she and Neal had split up three years prior and that he was "upset she had moved on from their relationship with Burns," court documents said.
She also added that 30 minutes before the shooting and crash, Neal had texted her asking if she had gotten home.
Four days after Burns’ murder, Neal was detained and taken into custody by investigators.
Detectives also seized a 2010 Honda Accord.
According to documents, the car matched a license plate given to detectives by witnesses at the crash scene and shooting that killed Burns.
During interrogation, Neal told investigators that “because he was the ex-boyfriend he would eventually be questioned” about Burns’ murder.
Records also show during questioning, when asked about his whereabouts in the hours leading up to the shooting, Neal told detectives that he went to an Applebee’s with a friend around 8 p.m. the night before Burns was killed. He told detectives he and a friend left an hour later and returned to his home in Scottsdale.
Detectives did not disclose in the records if they were able to corroborate Neal’s alibi.
Also, during questioning, records show Neal contradicted himself several times about knowing Burns, including stating that his ex-girlfriend dated Burns before meeting Neal.
Also, during questioning, Neal stated that he did not own any guns, but phone records obtained by Maricopa County Sheriff’s detectives appear to contradict that.
Phone records uncovered a text message conversation between Neal and a family member just four months before Burns's murder which indicated Neal did own a gun.
More phone records show that just hours after Burns's murder, Neal received a text message from a family member indicating he should get rid of the gun and delete this message.
Neal was released by detectives after the interview.
Records show during a search of the 2010 Honda Accord, detectives found the car had contact damage to the front passenger side fender, and front passenger-side door, consistent with a sideswipe crash.
The Phoenix Police Department Crime Lab also tested the car for gunshot residue. Samples from inside of the car tested positive.
The new documents do not elaborate on why it took the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office nearly five years to arrest Neal in the case despite the evidence uncovered.
12 News has reached out to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to get a more specific timeline on the evidence collected, the investigation, and what was the final item that allowed investigators to move forward with an arrest.
So far, our calls have not been returned.
12 News reached out to the family of Bryan Burns but our calls for a comment or statement were not answered.
Neal is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.
His next court appearance is scheduled for June 21.
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