Deputy Vernon P. Marconnet was killed while on patrol in Maricopa County, Arizona. On a late evening he stopped near a canal bank off S. Carver Road after finding two suspicious vehicles and encountering a father and his three adult sons who had been drinking and were arguing. After calling for backup, a 911 distress call stated an officer was in trouble. Responding officers found Deputy Marconnet deceased beside his patrol car.

The investigation reconstructed what happened: while the deputy was attempting to place the father into his vehicle, one son struck him in the head with the deputy’s police radio and another son seized the deputy’s firearm and forced him to the ground. At the father’s command, one of the sons then fatally shot Deputy Marconnet in the head. The four men were apprehended and charged with murder. The father and two sons who directly participated in the fatal assault were convicted of murder and originally sentenced to death; those sentences were later commuted to life in prison. The third son pleaded and received a 10-year sentence. One of the convicted sons was denied parole in 2021.

Does anyone have additional information about that stretch of S. Carver Road or recall the incident that night?