PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A woman who was shot and killed inside her Phoenix home late last week was the victim of previous cases of domestic violence, a family member told investigators.
Jonathan Llamas Cisneros, 47, is jailed in connection with the murder of 45-year-old Alma Victoria Suchilt.
Police were called to a home on Meadow Drive, near 40th Street and Bell Road, after a woman called 911 to report that her father had just shot her mother and fled in a Toyota 4Runner. Officers secured the scene and paramedics rushed Suchilt to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
According to court documents, their daughter told police that Cisneros and Suchilt had been arguing the night before, which she said was common. She said that her father left the home around midnight and that she heard him return about an hour later.
She fell asleep and was woken by the sound of screaming and multiple gunshots. She said she came out of her room and saw Cisneros standing over Suchilt, who was slumped down on the couch. He was reportedly talking to himself as he left the house.
Jonathan Llamas Cisneros, 47, is accused of shooting and killing 45-year-old Alma Victoria Suchilt in Phoenix late last week.(Arizona’s Family/Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators were also told that this wasn’t the first time that Cisneros had fired a weapon inside the home, and that he was described as paranoid about people breaking into the home.
“Back in May, I had reported to the police along with multiple other neighbors who had reported to the police that there were shootings into the air,” an anonymous neighbor told Arizona’s Family last week. “The neighbor that lived behind him had also reported it and they have since moved because they were actually afraid of him.”
Per documents, Cisneros and Suchilt had a history of domestic violence. Cisneros was reported to be both verbally and physically abusive, and it was said to be common for Suchilt to have black eyes. But he was never arrested, investigators were told, because Suchilt would deny that she had been abused and Cisneros would claim that he was the actual victim.
A 9mm Glock handgun was recovered at the scene, as well as at least seven casings.
Meanwhile, detectives learned that Cisneros had family in Mexico and was possibly headed towards the border. Using license plate readers and other resources, the Toyota SUV he was driving was spotted along Interstate 8 near Gila Bend.
Authorities tried to pull him over, but he sped away. During the pursuit, law enforcement tried to stop the vehicle with stop sticks and eventually, a PIT maneuver before Cisneros was taken into custody. Documents say he had a loaded Glock 9mm magazine and two plastic baggies containing white powder and crystal-like substances, which he later admitted to being cocaine and crystal meth.
During an interview with detectives, Cisneros told them “a fantastical story” about an affair that Suchilt was having with a Sinaloan Cartel member who lived a few houses away. But Cisneros said the so-called neighbor never appeared on the security cameras he installed in the house because the other man had “small boxes” that could shut off the cameras or cause them to malfunction.
Cisneros also reportedly said he and Suchilt began arguing because he thought the other man was inside his home, hiding in the box spring of his bed. He said the cartel member neighbor then showed up in the dining room and opened fire, so he began shooting back.
There were no witness reports of anyone else in the home besides Cisneros, Suchilt and their daughter at the time of the shooting. Cisneros also reportedly admitted that he had been drinking and using cocaine the night before.
He was then booked into jail on charges including second-degree murder, drug possession and unlawful flight from law enforcement.
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