The woman whose body was found naked and beaten in a Tempe neighborhood last week has been identified as 23-year-old Annovedwin Begay-Barakzai, and police believe her live-in boyfriend, 27-year-old Douglas Ray George, killed her.
He was arrested on a second-degree murder charge.
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On June 17, police received a call around 4:30 a.m. from a passerby, saying a woman was lying in the street near Baseline Road and McClintock Drive. When officers arrived, they found the naked, beaten body of a woman police could only identify as Hispanic or Native American and in her early 20s.
Police Sergeant Michael Pooley says officers ran into George, her boyfriend, earlier this month when they received a domestic-violence call. George was accused of throwing Begay-Barakzai into a car, where she hit her head, leaving markings.
Police were able to take a tip from the public and cross-check it with the detailed photos of Begay-Barakzai they'd taken after the alleged assault, and compare the bruises and scarring.
"Immediately we were able to put the boyfriend as a suspect," Pooley says.
Police searched the couple's home, and detectives found evidence that connects George to the murder, Pooley says. Although, at this time, they're not ready to release information on the evidence.
A Maricopa County Superior Court spokesman says the Maricopa County Attorney's office filed a motion to seal documents containing a probable-cause statement, which was granted.
George was first arrested and booked on suspicion of assault, and later charged with second degree murder and is being held at the Tempe city jail.
