When most people think of North Scottsdale, they picture mansions in gated communities. But thousands live in apartments, particularly near Frank Lloyd Wright and Shea boulevards.
Just off that intersection, for instance, North 115th Street – less than 2 miles from Desert Mountain High School – is home to three sprawling apartment communities: Cortland Scottsdale on the south side of the street; Casa Santa Fe and the Aliante adjacent on the other side of 115th.
Standing in front of the apartments on a typical night, one hears the gentle flow of fountain waters and the cascading chorus cry of cicadas and crickets.
Just before 10 p.m. on the night of June 30, those mundane sounds were overpowered by gunshots, screams of panic and pain, screeching tires and, ultimately, wailing sirens.
A double murder here is believed to be over a maddeningly minor treasure: vape cartridges.
Responding to multiple 911 calls, police raced to the scene, finding a bullet-riddled Infinity that apparently fled from the Aliante parking lot, only to crash into a tree across 115th Street.
Inside the car: A lifeless 20-year-old man and bloodied, gasping-for-life 21-year-old woman.
“Ramon Moraga died at the scene,” a Scottsdale Police release stated.
“Nadia Mysliwiec was transported to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries.”
An obituary for the Mesa man called Moraga “a bright and promising young man …His journey through life, though brief, was filled with promise, potential, and joy.”
A service for Mysliwiec was held at a Scottsdale funeral home, just a few miles from where her life suddenly ended.
“Our Sweet Nadia, who we called Pie,” her parents posted on her obituary page. “We can’t believe you’re gone! We never in our lives thought this would happen to you, or us as a family.”
Who snatched the two young lives from their loving family and friends?
The two seemed to have no ties to the adjoining Casa Santa Fe and Aliante apartments.
According to a recent New York Times story, the national “clearance rate” — cases that result in an arrest or are otherwise solved — was only 58% in 2023, the latest year for which F.B.I. data is available.
So barely more than half of national murders were solved – and that includes obvious cases where a jilted lover or enraged spouse is quickly caught.
Stranger vs. stranger killings, as this one appeared to be, are notoriously difficult to solve, often ending up in what victims’ loved ones dread: the “cold case file.”
Here, however, Scottsdale officers and detectives combined old-fashioned “knock on doors” work and cutting-edge investigative tools to identify and arrest three suspects.
“It’s amazing,” Councilman Adam Kwasman praised: It’s a wonderful mix of industry leading technology as well as old-fashioned police work.”
Councilwomen Jan Dubauskas and Maryann McAllen seconded Kwasman.
“Technology is definitely the police department’s friend – and our police are very good at it,” McAllen said.
“We have the best police department in the Valley,” Dubauskas boasted. “They regularly use all techniques available.”
Suspects identified
According to a narrative by Officer Keith Myers, “Scottsdale PD officers arrived on scene observing that there were multiple expended shell casings in the north entrance parking lot to the complex which included five .40 caliber casings and one 9mm caliber casing.”
An ages-old procedure kicked in, with police canvassing the crime scene, looking for evidence and knocking on doors to find witnesses.
One Aliante resident told police she saw three young men wearing hoodies running from the crime scene.
Another resident said he was alerted by gunshots, then saw three young men in hoodies jump over the north fence of the complex – leaving the Aliante property for the adjoining Casa Sante Fe Apartments.
Police reviewed Aliante video footage showing footage just prior to the shooting. The video shows three thin, young men wearing jeans and hoodies walking through the lot.
One responding officer quickly looked up a call two weeks before at the Casa Santa Fe apartment complex.
According to a court document, during a June 16 call to the Casa Santa Fe, “multiple individuals were removed from 11105 N 115th St #1028.”
One of them: LeBron Imari Rogers, an 18-year-old “who matched the description being provided by witnesses for this homicide occurring at the Aliante.”
Detectives reviewed June 16 body worn camera (BWC) footage, which “showed LeBron Rogers wearing his hair in a similar fashion as described by witnesses at the Aliante while also wearing a grey/black camouflage jacket.
“The BWC also shows this jacket to have bold white lettering down both sleeves. Consistent with the video surveillance obtained from the Aliante from June 30.”
Shortly after the shooting, an anonymous caller who lives at Casa Santa Fe told police of an incident a few hours before the murders.
“She identified a male individual belonging to unit #1028, waving a gun around while saying ‘Are we going to go smoke ’em? I think we should go smoke ’em.’
“When additional questions were asked of this caller,” the report continues, “she did describe the male having 4-inch ‘dread’ type hairstyle. The associated unit and hairstyle provided by the caller are consistent and match Lebron Rogers.”
Detectives used social media posts and surveillance videos to identify the two other suspects: Deon Thompson, Rogers’ juvenile nephew; and 16-year-old Davion Hunter.
Officers contacted Casa Santa Fe property managers, who told them the residents of unit 1028 were supposed to renew their lease on June 30; “however they had not received any communication from them.”
Officers searched Casa Santa Fe No. 1028, finding a sliding glass door open but no one in the apartment.
Meanwhile, SPD’s high-tech digital forensics unit went into action, analyzing two phones found in the Infinity.
One of the phones showed the messaging app “Potato Chat” – as well as the similar and more popular Snapchat.
The forensics team found communications between Moraga and an apparent middleman called “Lil Dash,” who sent Moraga the Aliante address with a reference to “4 coco banana Besos” and “CashApp.”
“It should be noted,” the police report states, “that located inside the victim’s vehicle was boxes for coco banana besos vapes and it is believed that the victim was selling these vapes.”
Indeed, a search warrant for Moraga’s residence “yielded items to include vaping materials and boxes along with a Glock firearm and approximately $16,463.00 in cash.”
Detectives then investigated the female victim’s Cash App history, which showed a $70 transaction showing “expired waiting on sender.”
The transaction – which took place at 9:41 p.m., four minutes before 911 callers reported gunshots – was linked to Morgan Faniel, a 19-year-old who is in prison after an armed robbery conviction last year.
High-tech tools
Armed with computers and search warrants granted by judges, Scottsdale detectives used information provided by Potato, Snapchat, CashApp and Instagram to investigate the three suspects.
Cellphone “pings” showed the three were in the vicinity of the double murder.
CashApp showed a transaction by Rogers at a smoke shop around the corner from the crime.
When police analyzed video from the store, “A facial recognition program was utilized and provided a 92% match with the image of the unknown male at the smoke shop being Deon Thompson.”
Various investigative tools provided likely addresses.
For instance, a warrant for information from Cox Communications showed Hunter’s Instagram account was connected to several WiFi locations.
The police report states Rogers tried to evade investigators by purchasing a new phone – but detectives scoured his social media and found the new number, which, they discovered through a search warrant, was purchased at a Walmart in Glendale.
One of the last in a long string of warrants was for that Walmart. Detectives watched store video of Rogers purchasing a phone, then leaving in a waiting car. The license plate of the vehicle led to another possible hideout location.
Closing in, Scottsdale undercover detectives located Rogers and followed him to various Phoenix locations.
In an early morning July 29 raid of a home in southwest Phoenix, Scottsdale Police officers arrested Rogers and Thompson.
Another police crew burst into a Glendale home and arrested Hunter.
Davion Hunter, 16, and Lebron Rogers, 18, were arrested and charged with a June 30 double murder in North Scottsdale.
Rogers, who just turned 18, and Hunter, 16, are believed to be members of violent gangs.
Both refused to discuss the Scottsdale murders with arresting officers and detectives.
Thompson, a minor, was with his guardian when he told his version of the event to a Scottsdale detective.
“Deon admitted to being in the area of the Aliante complex and walking with Lebron and Davion towards the vehicle in the parking lot of the Aliante,” the report states.
“Deon advised he did not take part in the shooting nor did he see the shooting however he heard gunshots and ran later joining up with Davion and Lebron.”
Both of his friends had guns, Thompson told the detective.
Rogers, who turned 18 three weeks before the double murder, was on parole for juvenile convictions.
Hunter also had a record for juvenile offenses. He was wanted by the Tempe Police Department for multiple armed robberies at the Arizona Mills mall.
Hunter, Rogers and Thompson are being charged as adults on murder and armed robbery allegations.
After preliminary hearings earlier this month, the three remain in Maricopa County Jail, awaiting trial dates.
“As a husband and father,” Kwasman said of the investigation and arrests, “I am unbelievably grateful for the Scottsdale Police Department in keeping our community safe.”