U.S. Marshals have arrested an eighth suspect in Chicago believed to be connected to the July shooting death of Chandler undercover Detective Carlos Ledesma.
Anthony Jerome Wright, 39, was arrested without incident outside a Walgreens drugstore in Chicago, according to Thomas Henman, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal's Office in Phoenix. Agents had observed Wright entering and leaving a residence, and then followed Wright, who was traveling with a woman, to the Walgreens. They apprehended him after he got out of his car, Henman said.
Agents had tracked Wright to various locations in the last three months, including the Virgin Islands, Henman said.
Wright is facing murder and drug-related charges in connection to Ledesma's death. Ledesma was shot multiple times inside a south Phoenix residence near Baseline Road and 19th Avenue on July 28 during a staged drug deal gone wrong, according to Chandler police. Ledesma later was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix.
Two other officers were injured and two suspects were shot and killed during the shootout in which drug dealers had planned to rip off $250,000 worth of marijuana.
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley sought the death penalty in the case last month in Maricopa County Superior Court, requesting that Darnell Jackson, 36, and Eldridge Gittens, 34, be sentenced to death.
Romley's office also requested a 60-day continuance in the court proceedings so lab work in the case can be completed and submitted to the county attorney's Capital Review Committee to determine whether it will seek the death penalty against Jerry Wayne Cockhearn, 26, a third defendant charged in the case.