A Phoenix neighborhood was terrorized in the summer of 2016 by a series of night-time shootings that killed multiple people. One of those victims was 33-year-old Stefanie Ellis. In the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, Stefanie, her 12-year-old daughter Maleah, and a family friend, 31-year-old Angela Linner, were sitting in a car outside their home when an assailant opened fire. Maleah and Angela were pronounced dead at the scene. Stefanie was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died several weeks later from her wounds, becoming the sixth fatality linked to the spate of attacks in the Maryvale area.

Investigators connected a string of apparently random, night-time shootings around homes to a single suspect called the Serial Street Shooter. In May 2017 police arrested 23-year-old Aaron Juan Saucedo and charged him with felony counts including homicide, aggravated assault, and drive-by shooting in connection with a dozen shootings that produced nine deaths.