8 Oct 2nd-Oct 8th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | ‘Dropped the Ball’ Murdered man’s family slams ‘shocking’ police communication failures. BY STEPHEN LEMONS T he Chandler home of Frank and Judy Denogean is filled with images of their eldest son, David. In hat and gown when he graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in secondary education. Suited up for a game when he played football for Phoenix College. In dark glasses, looking suave, when he worked the door at the Rebel Lounge. And a more recent one, holding in his arms his pet Labrador, Evie, who was next to him the night he was murdered. Nearly three years ago, Denogean, a popular track coach at Camelback High School, was killed by a gunman in an unprovoked attack outside a popular central Phoenix bar. He was 30. His killing remains officially unsolved, and there have been few updates on the case as the investigation has petered out. Or, at least, that’s what Denogean’s family thought. Last month, Phoenix New Times revealed the existence of a suspect in Denogean’s murder, a man currently serving time for a remarkably similar killing committed just one day after Denogean was fatally shot in November 2022. According to a Phoenix police inci- dent report obtained by New Times via a records request, police detectives zeroed in on Eduardo Quintero two years ago, though Quintero has never been charged in connection with the crime. That was news to Frank and Judy Denogean. The retired educators wonder why Phoenix police never saw fit to tell them. “Had you not told us about a report being released, we would not even know,” Frank said during a recent interview. “When you’re hearing it from sources other than them, it’s kind of shocking.” To the Denogeans, both 67, that’s depressingly par for the course when it comes to dealing with Phoenix police. Time and time again, they said, the Phoenix Police Department has failed to inform them — fully or at all — of crucial information and developments in their murdered son’s case. Even on the day of Denogean’s killing, police were reticent to share information with them, the couple said. Denogean’s family found out through third parties which hospital he had been taken to. Police did not tell them that Denogean was at the hospital until officers informed them he was dead, they said. Judy and Frank said they met with detectives about a month after the murder. Daniel Denogean, the younger brother of David and a Phoenix fire- fighter, was designated the contact person for the cops. Daniel said he last texted with homicide detectives about a year after the murder, but he said he’s had no contact with them since then. He idol- ized his brother, naming a child after him. The release of the police report, first obtained by New Times, was a shocker to him as well. Denogean’s parents also said they did not receive a warning in 2023 before Silent Witness, the nonprofit police agency that solicits crime tips from the public, released a partial video showing the moments before Denogean was gunned down. Frank learned of the release when Judy called to tell him she’d seen it on TV. At the time, he was tending to his son’s grave. Judy said she found the situation “disheartening,” adding, “It never ends for us. We’re going to have to live with this for the rest of our lives.” Frank said that a police sergeant later admitted to him that they had “dropped the ball.” “They use that all the time,” Frank said bitterly. “‘We dropped the ball.’ That must be the department catchphrase instead of ‘to serve and protect.’” Excuses, excuses Asked why it took so long for the department to release the Denogean report, Phoenix police spokesperson Donna Rossi stated via email that the department receives “approximately 11,000 requests a month” and is currently processing “more than 35,000 requests.” In February 2023, she added, the number of outstanding requests was more than 56,000. “These requests are processed in the order in which they are received,” Rossi wrote. “There are varying factors to consider before a report is released, including the case status and whether its release will compromise the investigation.” But according to noted media law attorney (and former New Times editor) David Bodney, that explanation falls way short of the mark. As a 1993 Arizona Supreme Court ruling determined, there is no exception to the state’s public records law for ongoing police investiga- tions, he told New Times. Rather, the burden is on the law enforcement agency to demonstrate “the probability of some specific material harm” that would result from the record’s release. Under Arizona’s public records law, a government agency must “promptly furnish” the records being requested, he added. And, as in the case with the Denogean report, more than two years ain’t prompt by a long shot. “It’s simply an insufficient excuse to say these things take years,” he said. “That’s not statutory compliance.” Indeed, the police did not release the report until New Times repeatedly contacted the Phoenix city attorney about the matter. It was the city attor- ney’s office that informed the paper that the report would be made available. Then there is the question of why the Denogean family was not told that the police had a suspect in their son’s murder. In 1990, Arizona voters made the Victim’s Bill of Rights part of the state constitu- tion, requiring agencies to treat victims with “fairness, respect and dignity.” A host of statutes followed, requiring that victims be informed of a suspect’s arrest and the date and time of his or her initial appearance, so that family could attend and be heard at certain court hearings. Because Quintero, the suspect in Denogean’s case, was never arrested or charged for the crime, the Denogeans fell through the cracks of those laws. According to Delaney Cocoran, a spokesperson for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, other than in the event of an arrest, a law enforcement agency “is not required to reach out to the victim to provide case updates.” She added that police are not bound by law to inform victims when a report or a video is being released, though law enforcement agencies do have to comply with the victims’ privacy rights in doing so. Police are required to prioritize public records requests from victims, according to Kirstin Flores, the director of the Office of Victim Services for the attorney general, though it’s not clear if Denogean’s family submitted one. But the Denogeans are not making a legal argument as much as a moral one about a family facing tremendous grief. Judy conceded that hers is not the only family struggling from a loss from homicide and that “to investigate a murder is very hard.” But, she said, she wished the police “were more forthcoming with some of this information.” Judy and Frank Denogean, parents of murdered teacher David Denogean, in their Chandler home. (Stephen Lemons) The late David Denogean. (Chris Chappell) >> p 11 | NEWS | | NEWS |
