Alicia Clark

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Glendale boy who thought he had arranged to sell an Xbox gaming console through an online service was shot in his driveway Sunday, Glendale police said, and an Avondale man has been arrested in connection with his death.

Aaron Ott, 19, of Avondale, was taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Miguel Navarro, 16, was shot in the back at his residence in the 6500 block of West Mountain View Road, according to police and court documents.

According to a Glendale police spokesman, Navarro was shot in what police believe was a robbery.

Navarro had offered the Xbox for sale on OfferUp, on online site to buy and sell items locally, police said.

Witnesses told police the shooter fled on foot before driving away in a car. The car, identified as a gold Dodge Durango, was recorded by multiple surveillance cameras.

Peoria police and paramedics responded to calls just before 5 p.m. Sunday. They found Navarro in front of the home. A neighbor who had witnessed the incident was performing CPR. Navarro was treated by Peoria Fire Department paramedics and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later that night. The family has set up a GoFundMe account to pay Miguel's funeral expenses.

Ott, who told officers he was employed at a Little Caesar's Pizza, was being held in a Maricopa County jail on a $1 million bond. His next court appearance was scheduled for April 27.

Investigators performed a forensic search of Navarro's phone and discovered a series of texts between Navarro and an unknown number discussing the sale of an Xbox, according to court documents. That phone number led police to another phone number registered with OfferUp belonging to Pedro Claro-Fernandez.

Police began watching the home of Claro-Fernandez's girlfriend and observed a gold Dodge Durango driven by a young white man pull up in front of the house.

On Tuesday, police brought Claro-Fernandez to Glendale police headquarters for questioning. Claro-Fernandez told police that Ott had contacted him about wanting to find a new video-game system.

According to the police report, Ott had Claro-Fernandez download an app that would disguise his phone number from people he called or texted, and Claro-Fernandez found Navarro selling an Xbox online and began communicating with him. They set up a time Sunday to carry out the purchase, police said.

On Sunday, Ott picked up Claro-Fernandez in his mother's Dodge Durango. They drove around for a while before driving to Navarro's house. Claro-Fernandez told police Ott was driving the car and Claro-Fernandez was texting Navarro whatever Ott told him to say.

Ott parked the car around the corner from Navarro's house, Claro-Fernandez told police, and Ott exited the car. A few minutes later, Claro-Fernandez said he heard a shot, then saw Ott come running toward the vehicle. Ott threw a black backpack into the car, got in and began driving away, Claro-Fernandez told police.

He said Ott told him that Navarro had refused to give him the Xbox so Ott shot him, took the backpack and ran away, according to the police report.

According to the police report, Claro-Fernandez and Ott drove back to Claro-Fernandez's house where Ott asked Claro-Fernandez to hold on to the backpack for him because Ott did not want to be caught with it.

Claro-Fernandez told police he did not know Ott was going to shoot Navarro and did not know Ott was carrying a weapon.

The day after the shooting, after learning Navarro had died, Claro-Fernandez told police that he asked Ott why he had to shoot Navarro.

Ott allegedly told Claro Fernandez that he did what he had to do. Claro-Fernandez told police Ott laughed about the alleged shooting.

When police brought in Ott for questioning he told police it was all Claro-Fernandez's idea, the report said.

According to the police report, Ott told police he did not shoot Navarro and had no idea what had happened because he was high on marijuana.

Search warrants were carried out at Ott and Claro-Fernandez's residences. At the Claro-Fernandez residence, investigators discovered an Xbox, video games and a gun magazine with .45-caliber ammunition.

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