Suspect arrested a year after couple shot in Peoria home

PEORIA, AZ (AZFamily) — A 21-year-old man is charged with murder for allegedly shooting a couple in their Peoria home a year ago.

This week, Alexander Lee Smith of Gilbert was arrested in connection with the deaths of 52-year-old Walter Mitchell and 42-year-old Susie Ephrem.

Shortly after 4 a.m. on November 11, 2023, Ephrem called 911 to report that she and her husband had been shot.

Peoria police responded to the home near 79th Avenue and Mescal Street and found the couple suffering from gunshot wounds.

Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene, while Ephrem later died at the hospital. A third person in the home was not injured.

Police said at the time that someone had forced their way into the home, and investigators did not believe the shooting was a random act.

On Monday, a year to the day after the shooting, Smith was taken into custody by Peoria police and the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force.

He was later booked into the Maricopa County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder.

Peoria police have not offered a possible motive for the crime or how the suspect might have known the victims.

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