On the morning of Sunday, January 15, 2017, 58-year-old Charles Jackson Sr. was found dead inside his Scottsdale home near 74th Street and McKellips Road. A family member discovered him and officers determined he had sustained a fatal gunshot wound. Neighbors described Jackson as kind and gentle.

Detectives treating the case as a homicide recovered several leads: neighborhood surveillance captured a suspicious man near the scene; a baton found in the front yard appeared to match the one carried by that individual; and a shoe print was found in the backyard. Jackson’s cell phone and truck had been stolen, and interrogation of the phone located both items in nearby Mesa. Additional belongings were recovered near where the stolen property was found.

Investigators learned Mesa police had arrested a man on trespassing charges shortly after the homicide. That man, identified as 28-year-old Anthony David Stephens, was questioned in the Mesa jail and then arrested and charged with first-degree murder and burglary less than two days after Jackson’s body was discovered. Did anyone in the area see someone acting suspiciously around Jackson’s home that January morning?