A traffic stop on a rural stretch of Maricopa Road in late autumn 1995 ended with Ak-Chin Tribal Police Sergeant Ronald Eugene Kelley shot and later dying while being transported to the hospital. Kelley, 49, a U.S. Army veteran who had received a Purple Heart for Vietnam service, had about two decades in law enforcement and had worked for Goodyear, Kearney, Avondale, Peoria, El Mirage and, most recently, the Ak-Chin Tribal Police Department.

He was found on Monday, November 20, 1995, clutching the driver’s license of the man who would later be convicted of Kelley’s murder. That license became the key piece of evidence linking the suspect to the killing. The defendant was tried, convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Kelley was survived by his wife and five children.