PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A driver was charged with manslaughter more than six months after a deadly road rage shooting in Phoenix, raising questions about why a grand jury declined to indict another driver in a similar case.
Heather Arriaga was charged earlier this week in connection with the September shooting death of Stephen Guardino at 7th Avenue and Missouri in Phoenix. Police said Guardino got out of his car and spit on Arriaga, the driver in the other car. Authorities confirmed she shot Guardino in the neck. He died at the scene.
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said the surge in road rage cases is a concern and that her office is committed to pursuing them.
“Often times you have two parties who don’t have clean hands exactly, they’re both doing something,” Mitchell said at a school event Wednesday. “And so, parsing out the behaviors of each is very important and we wanted to make sure we had that up front.”
Earlier case resulted in no charges
The Arriaga case came two months after a grand jury declined to charge a driver in a deadly road rage shooting in Tempe in July. Cell phone video showed Steven Bevan get out of his car with his two young sons in the backseat. As tensions escalated with another driver, Bevan went to confront them. That driver had his daughter in the truck. As Bevan approached, the driver shot him in the chest. Bevan died at the scene.
Mitchell could not say what made the difference in the Phoenix case.
“There were some additional facts that we identified as being significant,” Mitchell said.
Road rage cases decline but remain elevated
Road rage cases in Arizona doubled from about 500 in 2020 to more than 1,000 in 2024. According to the latest data from the state, there has been an improvement. In 2025, road rage cases declined to just over 900.
Jesse Torres with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said the uptick in these cases is the result of fewer officers doing traffic enforcement.
“Public safety is traffic safety,” Torres said. “We need officers out there enforcing traffic safety, speed, you know DUI impairment driving.”
Torres said these cases should serve as a warning to other drivers.
“We don’t have to get out a car. We don’t have to have our window rolled down,” Torres said. “I mean just keep moving if you can.”
Arriaga pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge. During her initial appearance, the court learned she has no criminal history and is nine weeks pregnant. She had no comment.
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