Police said Lori Ann Perez, 47, was discovered in a Nissan Rogue before 2 a.m. April 9, and detectives later named Richard Benjamin Charles, 46, as the suspected shooter.
PHOENIX — Phoenix police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 47-year-old woman found inside a Nissan Rogue in the Maryvale area before dawn Thursday, then turned to her boyfriend as a suspect after he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a search of his home.
The case quickly widened from one taped-off street in west Phoenix to a second death a few hours later, leaving detectives to reconstruct what happened between the first reports of gunfire and the police move on the suspect’s house. Investigators have publicly identified the victim as Lori Ann Perez and the suspect as Richard Benjamin Charles, but police still have not explained what led to the shooting, whether anyone else was present when it happened or whether Perez was shot inside the SUV or elsewhere before officers found her.
Police said the first calls came in around 12:45 a.m. April 9 near 107th Avenue and Indian School Road, a broad reference point often used in early dispatches for that part of west Phoenix. By the time officers narrowed the scene to 107th Avenue and Heatherbrae Drive, just north of Indian School Road, they found Perez inside a Nissan Rogue with at least one gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The stretch of roadway, lined with homes and lit by streetlights, was soon blocked with police tape and patrol vehicles as detectives and crime-scene investigators moved in. Officers spent the early morning processing the SUV, photographing the block and trying to establish the sequence of events that brought the woman there. Police have not said how many shots were fired, whether nearby homes or vehicles were struck, or how long the Rogue may have been parked before officers arrived.
As detectives worked the homicide scene, police said they developed information pointing to Charles, Perez’s boyfriend, as a possible suspect. Authorities said Charles, 46, lived in the area, and officers with a police tactical unit went to his home later that morning to serve a search warrant. Police said Charles shot himself as officers entered the house, and he died there. By about 11:30 a.m., Phoenix police said in a public update that the incident had been resolved and that there was no longer a threat to the community, though detectives remained in the neighborhood to continue the investigation. Police have not described the evidence that led them from the SUV to Charles, and they have not said whether that information came from witnesses, surveillance video, phone records, prior contact between the two or evidence recovered from the vehicle. They also have not said whether a gun was recovered at the homicide scene, at Charles’ home or at both locations.
Even with the victim and suspect identified, much of the case remains unspoken in public. Detectives have not said whether Perez and Charles had recently argued, whether there had been earlier police calls involving the couple or whether investigators believe the shooting was planned or spontaneous. They also have not explained whether Perez was found in the driver’s seat, the passenger seat or the back of the SUV, a detail that can help indicate whether the vehicle was the primary crime scene or the place where officers located her after the gunfire. Those unanswered points matter because they shape where investigators look next, what kind of forensic evidence they expect to recover and whether the final timeline starts on Heatherbrae Drive or somewhere else. For now, the public account remains narrow: Perez was found dead in the Nissan, Charles was later identified as the suspect, and Charles died before detectives could question him in custody.
The investigation now turns on the slower work that follows an overnight homicide scene. Detectives still must complete ballistic testing, review neighborhood surveillance footage, examine phones and digital records, and compare evidence from the SUV with evidence recovered during the warrant service at Charles’ home. A medical examiner will determine the exact cause and manner of death for both Perez and Charles, and those findings could clarify how many times Perez was shot and how much time passed before officers arrived. Police also have not said whether any witness saw the shooting itself or whether anyone reported seeing another person or vehicle leave the area before patrol officers got there. Because the man police identified as the suspect is dead, the case may move forward more as a completed homicide investigation than as a prosecution, unless detectives later determine that another person helped set up, carry out or conceal what happened. As of Friday, April 10, no additional arrests or charges had been announced.
Hours after sunrise, the block still carried the look of a fresh crime scene. Television video from local stations showed marked police SUVs parked at angles along the street, yellow tape stretched across the roadway and investigators gathered around the dark-colored Rogue while residents waited outside the perimeter. The setting was not a major commercial strip or freeway ramp but a neighborhood grid of houses and side streets, which can leave detectives relying heavily on doorbell cameras, nearby security video and the patchwork memory of people awakened by sirens or shots in the dark. Phoenix police did not hold a detailed briefing at the scene, but their midday message was direct. “The incident has been resolved,” the department said, adding that detectives were still working in the area and that there was no longer a threat to the community. That statement settled the immediate safety question for neighbors, but not the larger ones about motive, movement and the final minutes before Perez was found.
By late Friday, the case stood as a homicide inquiry centered on a woman found dead in her vehicle and a suspect who died before he could be interviewed. The next public milestones are likely to be any fuller police account, confirmation of forensic findings and the formal medical examiner rulings on both deaths.
Author note: Last updated April 10, 2026.