Phoenix police arrested a man suspected of murder, after he and his partner - who eventually died from his wounds - were shot during a drug deal in June.
Daniel Albert Alvarado, 29, has been charged with murder and two counts of intent to sell marijuana. According to a police report, Alvarado admitted he and the deceased, Danny Tineo, had arranged to sell about 15 pounds of weed to three men and were meeting inside a house near 91st and Vernon avenues.
The buyers, described in the report as "a group of Black males," apparently decided that the asking price was more than they wanted to pay and shot at Alvarado and Tineo. Tineo died, and as Alvarado ran for his Jaguar, he was hit once in a buttock and another time in the stomach -- police later found Alvarado's car torched in a parking lot with traces of blood on the driver's seat.
The buyers took off in a light-blue Lincoln Town Car. Alvarado checked himself into a hospital the next day, where police caught up with him. He's now being held on a $500,000 bond.
The reason Alvarado can be charged with the murder of his partner is because of the felony murder rule, which throws blanket blame on anyone involved.
"If you go out and commit a crime, even though you might not be responsible for the murder, you're charged with your co-conspirators," says Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sergeant Tommy Thompson.
A possible murder wrap for getting ripped off in a drug deal seems harsh. But the drug trade can get sticky like that.
