PHOENIX — Two teenage suspects were arrested and charged as adults in the shooting deaths of two Jobot Coffee employees in downtown Phoenix last year.
The suspects, identified Wednesday as 16-year-old Antonio Palafox-Zermeno and 15-year-old Castulo Cervantes, were accused of shooting and killing 24-year-old Zachary Walter and 41-year-old David Bessent on Oct. 5.
Palafox-Zermeno was 15 at the time of the shooting, Cervantes was 14.
They were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted armed robbery and two counts of aggravated robbery.
They're both being held on a $1 million bond.
They have since been booked into Maricopa County Jail.
Walter and Bessent were shot during an armed robbery when they were walking from work around 3:30 a.m. in the area of 300 W. Roosevelt Street.
Both men died from their injuries.
Officers developed probable cause that Palafox-Zermeno and Cervantes were suspects in the robbery and homicides after information was provided to the community that the suspects fled the scene in a white Dodge Durango.
Police believe there were at least two more suspects in the robbery and shooting.
Anyone with information about the homicides is encouraged to contact the Phoenix Police Department Violent Crimes Bureau at (602) 262-6141 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.