Hilario Mendoza, 45, was shot and killed on the evening of August 21, 2019, in the parking lot of Casino Arizona in Scottsdale. Mendoza had recently started driving a taxi to support his family while waiting to return to construction work after the summer. Earlier that day he had shown his new taxi to his mother before leaving on a call for service that became his last.

According to family accounts, the passenger directed Mendoza to one casino, then said it was the wrong one and asked to be taken to Casino Arizona. It was there that the passenger shot Mendoza and fled in the taxi. Salt River Police pursued the vehicle and arrested the suspect, identified as Gabriel Kavacha, about eight miles away; he was charged with first-degree murder and carjacking. Kavacha’s record noted a prior sentence of over 12 years in prison for a 2004 assault and weapons case and supervised release violations in 2017, with release from custody in November 2018.

Did anyone who knew Mendoza’s work as a taxi driver or saw activity in the Casino Arizona parking area that night come forward with information?