7 Sept 25th-Oct 1St, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | In the Dark Police identified suspect in 2022 killing, never told victim’s family. BY STEPHEN LEMONS O n Nov. 25, 2022, David Denogean was listening to a podcast and walking his white Labrador mix, Evie, near the apartment he shared with his girlfriend in Phoenix. Suddenly, without any apparent provoca- tion, an unknown man ran up from behind and shot Denogean several times outside Feeney’s Restaurant & Bar near 12th Street and Maryland Avenue. Denogean was rushed to HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. The death of the 30-year-old Camelback High School teacher, track coach and ex-Rebel Lounge security guard alarmed and outraged many in the community, particularly since it occurred in a heavily trafficked and relatively safe part of Phoenix. Despite the existence of several eyewitnesses, some of whom observed the killing as they sat on Feeney’s patio, as well as a $20,000 reward and the release of a video clip showing the purported shooter, the killing remains officially unsolved. Since the brazen early-evening shooting death nearly three years ago, the Phoenix Police Department has remained tight- lipped about the murder of the 6-foot-4, 240-pound video game aficionado. But a police incident report for the Denogean killing obtained via public records request suggests that homicide detectives identified a suspect in the killing two years ago — a man who was already in custody and charged with an eerily similar homicide that occurred just one day after Denogean’s. That suspect is 32-year-old Eduardo Quintero, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence for the unprovoked slaying of 57-year-old Joseph Patruno at a 76 gas station near Cave Creek and Bell roads on Nov. 26, 2022. Quintero, a career criminal with a string of felony convictions to his name, was booked into jail on first-degree murder shortly after he apparently randomly selected Patruno as his victim and unloaded a .38 caliber revolver into him. According to the police report for the gas station slaughter, Quintero shot Patruno — a commercial painter and musician who grew up in Phoenix and lived in a nearby apart- ment — point-blank while Patruno was gassing up his truck. Quintero then walked around the rear of the vehicle, shot Patruno several more times, laid his weapon down, threw his hands up in the air and awaited the arrival of the police, who ultimately arrested him without incident. As an officer placed him in the back of his patrol vehicle, Quintero told the cop, “I don’t know why this happened, dog, I’m sorry,” adding, “Satan is evil.” A homicide lieutenant at the scene noted the parallel to Denogean’s killing less than 24 hours earlier and passed the observation to the detective investigating the Denogean murder. According to the incident report on Denogean’s death, lead investigator Det. Adam Frost believed Quintero stalked and killed Denogean. Despite that, Quintero has not been charged with that killing. Records show Frost drew up a list of parallels between the Patruno and Denogean homicides, including the arbi- trariness of the killings and the fact that in both cases, the shooter approached the victims in the same way: immediately firing on them and continuing to do so after they fell “until he expended all ammunition.” Frost also noted similarities in the physical characteristics of the victims and the shooters. Hearing voices Frost wrote that his suspicions were aroused by video of a four-door sedan supposedly used by the perpetrator in both crimes. In the report, Frost wrote that the sedan made a “sudden U-turn” while Denogean was walking past, with surveillance videos eventually showing the killer on foot as he followed Denogean north on 12th Street. As Denogean began to pass in front of Feeney’s, the suspect “ran a wide arc out into the street,” circled back in front of Denogean, “raised his right arm toward the victim,” and began shooting. Denogean fell, “and could be heard screaming,” Frost wrote. The suspect “continued to fire the handgun as he stood over him.” At one point, “the suspect appeared to leave the scene only to return and fire several more times at the victim.” The shooter then fled south, ultimately overtaking Denogean’s dog, who was running in the same direction. The videos show the sedan leaving the scene shortly thereafter. Frost was ultimately unable to prove that the car used by Quintero in the Patruno killing was the same as the one Frost saw in surveillance videos of Denogean’s demise. The gun used in the Patruno killing, a stolen five-round revolver with the serial number filed off, was confiscated by police at the gas station after Patruno was killed, according to the Patruno incident report. The Denogean incident report does not mention a gun being recovered, though it states that at the scene, investigators located 11 nine-millimeter casings, one nine-milli- meter cartridge and one “apparent projec- tile,” all of which suggest the use of a >> p 8 | NEWS |
