A man is facing murder and assault charges following a deadly shooting outside a courthouse in eastern Arizona that stemmed from a dispute over a custody hearing.
Authorities on Wednesday identified the suspect as 47-year-old Salomon Diaz of Snowflake, the grandfather of the children involved in the custody hearing. He had been taking care of them for an extended time.
He's accused of fatally shooting the children's mother, 25-year-old Ashley Utley, and their grandmother, 45-year-old Sherry Quintero-Davenport, after encountering them outside the Navajo County courthouse in Holbrook Tuesday evening.
The children's aunt was also injured and was recovering at a hospital.
Local and state law enforcement officers were at the scene in less than a minute and Diaz was taken into custody. The shooting forced the building to be locked down while officers swept the complex to ensure the safety of workers and the public.
