On April 9, 2026, Lori Ann Perez, age 47, was found shot to death inside a car in a west Phoenix neighborhood. Her boyfriend, Richard Benjamin Charles, age 46, was identified as the person of interest. Police served a search warrant at Charles's home, where he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was later declared dead. The incident is classified as a murder-suicide involving a firearm.
Country: United States
State/Province: Arizona, United States
City/Region: Phoenix
Incident Type: Murder-Suicide
Relationship Status: Dating
Relationship Duration:
Incident Date: April 9, 2026
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
Contributing Factors:
Red Flags:
Motives:
Relationship Outcomes:
How the relationship or connection began.
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2026-04-09
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Original language: English
Woman killed in west Phoenix shooting, boyfriend later found dead
Domestic Violence
The incident involved a domestic conflict between dating partners that escalated to lethal violence. The suspect, the victim's boyfriend, killed the victim and then died by suicide, consistent with a murder-suicide pattern in intimate partner violence cases.
Police responded to shots fired and found the victim deceased in a vehicle. The suspect was identified and found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a search warrant at his home. The case is closed as a murder-suicide with no further suspects reported.
No reported confusion; suspect identified and deceased at scene of police search.
Police received reports of shots fired at 12:45 a.m. on April 9, 2026, in west Phoenix. Officers found Lori Ann Perez shot dead inside a car. Richard Benjamin Charles, her boyfriend, was identified as the person of interest. Police served a search warrant at Charles's residence where he inflicted a fatal gunshot wound on himself. The sequence indicates a murder-suicide event.
High risk due to escalation to lethal violence and subsequent suicide by the suspect.
Domestic conflicts can escalate rapidly to lethal outcomes. Early intervention and awareness of escalation patterns and suicidal ideation are critical. Law enforcement's timely response and search warrant execution led to resolution of the case.
Reported shots fired and immediate police response were critical early signals.
Identification of the victim and suspect relationship helped connect the case as a domestic incident.
Physical evidence of gunshot wounds and police discovery of suspect's self-inflicted wound were strongest evidence.
Not reported.
No follow-up reports available beyond initial incident and suspect death.
No unresolved issues reported; suspect and victim identities and cause of death confirmed.