PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department has identified the three people who were found dead Tuesday morning at a south Phoenix residence.
Sarah Scott, 37, and 6-year-old Jacob De Zeeuw Jr. have been identified as the victims who were shot to death at a home near 16th Street and South Mountain Avenue.
Scott was four months pregnant at the time of her death, police said. Scott and the 6-year-old boy were not related.
Jacob De Zeeuw, 27, was also found deceased at the residence and is suspected of shooting the victims before shooting himself.
"I don't want to believe it's real," said Jay Pages, a friend and mentor to both Scott and De Zeeuw. "The minute I start thinking about it, I can't hold back the tears."
Pages is a jiu-jitsu instructor in Tempe. He said he trained Scott and De Zeeuw for several years. He said both of them took the combat sport seriously. Scott even traveled with Pages around the world for classes and competitions.
"They would train together; they came in together," Pages said. "I consider both of them loved ones."
It was recently when he says Scott and De Zeeuw started a relationship with each other. Then once they found out Scott was pregnant, Pages said both stopped training. Now months later, he still can't believe what happened.
"None of us thought that was even a possibility or [De Zeeuw] could go to those lengths," he said.
Pages described Scott as a hardworking, loving, and supportive person.
"Very lively," he said. "Always had a good mood about her. It was always a good time hanging out with her."
Saying De Zeeuw was the same way.
"He is a great guy; honestly, I couldn't say anything bad about him," Pages said. "He loved his son more than anything in the world. He fought for years for full custody."
Now all Pages can think about is while there were no signs of any trouble between Scott and De Zeeuw on the surface, if there were signs, he missed and could have stopped.
"We lost a kid who shouldn't have been lost," Pages said. "None of it is fair."