Hunter Stanfield is accused of murdering his mother and father
Chase & Gail Stanfield (Image via a family-posted celebration of life video), Hunter Stanfield (Gila County Sheriff’s Office)
A 19-year-old son in Arizona is charged with first-degree first-degree first-degree murder at home months after his parents were killed.
Hunter Blair Stanfield was arrested Tuesday in the October 2022 murders in Whispering Pines, according to the Gila County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff J. Adam Shepherd said his office first learned of the deaths of 39-year-old Chase J. Stanfield and 50-year-old Gail M. Stanfield after they received an 911 call on the morning of Oct. 27.
Although the sheriff’s office did not specify how the victims were killed, Fox News reported that the couple was shot. The authorities reportedly arrested the accused after questioning him for about an hour.
A search of Arizona court records conducted by Law&Crime shows that multiple search warrants were executed in the weeks and months following the murders. The totality of those investigations led to the charges Monday, Shepherd said.
“Sheriff Shepherd would like to thank the Gila County Attorney’s Office and the Arizona Department of Public Safety for their coordinated efforts in this investigation,” the sheriff said. “I am grateful to the detectives who have worked non-stop on this case to follow up all leads, collect and evaluate all evidence.”
“This was a time-consuming investigation and the detective’s commitment to the community and the judiciary should be commended,” he added.
An October obituary for the Stanfields said they “passed away suddenly.”
“Chase and Gail left behind their children,” “their parents,” “grandparents, an ‘extended family,’ and many friends,” the obituary reads.
After the shooting, numerous “devastated” friends and family members posted tributes to Gail and Chase on their Facebook page.
“I am completely devastated by this news. I can’t even imagine what the family must be going through,” a friend named Kelly posted two days after the shooting. “My heart is broken that this could happen to two of the most positive people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. God bless their souls and family.”
“You still made it, Mom. I wish I could hug you and tell you personally how proud we all are of you, but I know you can hear it,” Gail Stanfield’s daughter Ashley posted in December, sharing a posthumous graduation her mother received from the Grand Canyon University received. Gail Stanfield’s Facebook page said she is pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology-Applied Behavior Analysis.
“Mom, not a single moment goes by that I don’t miss and chase you. My heart breaks every day the moment I open my eyes and reality keeps crashing in like a wave,” Ashley wrote in February. “I miss our daily conversations. I miss yours and I chase hugs. There are so many great things happening that I would love to tell you about. I miss you. I love you.”
Gail posted in June 2018 that she and Chase were “dragged”; They married in October 2018.
Two days before the shooting, Gail tagged her husband on Facebook and shared her latest post: A viral video of NFL players with microphones but with children’s voices.
Chase Stanfield was a Dallas Cowboys fan and an avid outdoorsman.
Under the sheriff’s Facebook post of Hunter Stanfield’s arrest, Payson-area residents who claimed to know the suspect expressed heartache and suggested that mental illness may have been a factor in the killings.
It is not immediately clear whether the defendant has a lawyer.
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https://lawandcrime.com/crime/son-19-identified-as-murder-suspect-months-after-parents-were-killed-at-their-arizona-home/ Hunter Stanfield is accused of murdering his mother and father