Daniel Anthony Arriaga

On the evening of January 17, 2024, a planned meeting at a park on Tucson’s south side ended in tragedy. Daniel Anthony Arriaga, an 18-year-old Hispanic male, had arranged to meet someone at Manuel Herrera Jr. Park on South Fiesta Avenue for what police later described as a “pre-planned transaction.” The encounter, which took place just after 7:15 p.m., devolved into an argument that escalated to gunfire. Daniel was shot, and the person who shot him fled the scene before authorities arrived.

Tucson police officers were the first to respond to reports of the shooting. They found Daniel unresponsive and wounded in the back seat of a vehicle and immediately began rendering aid. Medics with the Tucson Fire Department soon took over and rushed him to Banner University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Daniel succumbed to his injuries two days later, on January 19, 2024. In the wake of his death, a GoFundMe was established to help his family with funeral expenses.

The Tucson Police Department's Homicide Unit launched an immediate investigation. By collecting forensic evidence from the scene and conducting witness interviews, detectives were able to identify a suspect. On January 24, just a week after the shooting, they secured an arrest warrant for 17-year-old Derick Ivan Hernandez Burruel, accusing him of first-degree murder and attempted robbery.

Later that same day, officers located Burruel near East Bilby Road and took him into custody. He was booked into the Pima County Jail, where his bond was set at $1,000,000. The case proceeded through the justice system, and Derick Ivan Hernandez Burruel, by then 18 years old, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the death of Daniel Arriaga.