The widower of a prominent Arizona prosecutor, who died shortly after leaving office last year, fatally shot his girlfriend and her mother before turning the gun on himself, police said Tuesday.
The Christmas Eve murder-suicide unfolded at the home of David DeNitto, husband of late Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel, authorities said.
DeNitto shot girlfriend Maryalice Cash, 47, and her mother, Cynthia Domini, 83, inside his home near Central Avenue and Bethany Home Road at about 11:30 p.m. MT (1:30 a.m. ET Monday), officials said.
Cash and Domini were rushed to a hospital, where they died; DeNitto was declared dead at the scene with a self-inflicted wound.
Cash and DeNitto had been arguing just before gunfire erupted, police said.
"It was some kind of fight, some kind of altercation. I don't know the subject matter," Phoenix police spokesperson Donna Rossi told NBC News.
Adel, DeNitto’s late wife, was appointed to be prosecutor of Arizona's largest county in 2019 when then-Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery was appointed to the state's high court.
On the night she won a narrow election in 2020, Adel was hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage.
Then in 2021, Adel took time away from work to undergo treatment for alcohol abuse and eating disorders. Top deputies questioned Adel's ability to lead the office before she stepped down on March 25, 2022.
She died on April 30 that year from "health complications," her family said.
"It is impossible to comprehend a tragedy such as this," Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement Monday.
"Words cannot adequately express the flood of sorrow. I ask the community to join me in praying for the families affected and, most especially, Allister’s children," Mitchell said. "I also ask that the community surround the families with love, kindness, and a respect for the need for privacy.”
