On October 5, 2018, about 3:30 a.m. in the Roosevelt Row arts district of Phoenix, 24-year-old artist and poet Zachary Walter was shot and killed while walking home with his coworker, 41-year-old David Bessent. The two had just finished a shift at Jobot Coffee & Bar and were near Third Avenue and Roosevelt Street when they were confronted in what police believe was an armed robbery. Walter died at the scene; Bessent was critically wounded and died days later on October 10, 2018.

Friends and colleagues remembered Walter as a compassionate, creative presence in the local arts scene. The community placed a memorial outside Jobot and raised funds for the families. Investigators initially had little to go on beyond a description of a light-colored SUV, but in August 2019 the Phoenix Police Department announced the arrests of two teenagers, Antonio Palafox-Zermeno (14 at the time of the shooting) and Castulo Cervantes (15), each charged as an adult with first-degree murder and related offenses. Authorities said they believed at least two other suspects may have been involved.

If anyone saw activity near Third Avenue and Roosevelt Street that morning or has information about the light-colored SUV or other suspects, please come forward.