A Marana teen charged with second-degree murder stemming from an August shooting at the Toscana Cove Apartments in Tucson has been ordered to appear at Pima County Superior Court this week for a hearing at which his trial date could be set.
Izaiah Thomas Colon turned himself in to authorities one month after Tucson police officers responded to a shots-fired call on Aug. 15 and found Robert Charles Detwiler with obvious gunshot wounds to the chest. Witnesses reported Detwiler and another man engaged in a verbal argument before several shots were heard.
The other man, later identified as Colon, ran from the scene before self-surrendering on Sept. 15. He was indicted by a Pima County grand jury on Sept. 29 on a sole count of second-degree murder.
Colon, 18, pleaded not guilty at arraignment and is being held in the Pima County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. He is slated for a Nov. 6 case management conference in front of Judge James Marner.
Detectives have not publicly revealed whether any weapons were found at the scene or if there is evidence that more than one gun was fired. They have also not announced what Detwiler and Colon were arguing about nor a possible motive for the murder.
Detwiler, 33, died at Banner UMC a short time after he arrived. He had been shot twice in the chest, including once at close range, according to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, with both bullets following a right to left and downward trajectory.
One medium caliber, copper-colored metal jacked projectile was recovered from the body, while the other chest shot exited Detwiler’s lower back, the autopsy report notes. Detwiler was also shot once through the upper right arm and had a superficial abrasion to the same arm, indicative of another bullet grazing the skin.
The autopsy report revealed Detwiler tested positive for a high level of methamphetamine and had cannabinoids in his blood.
Colon’s case management conference on the murder charge is the second court appearance on his schedule this week. On Nov. 5 he is slated to appear in Pima Justice Court for arraignment on five counts filed against him in late August by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
Those charges include two counts of weapons misconduct, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal entry into a city park, and possession of intoxicants in a park.
Court records also show Colon is the subject of a citation filed with the court on Oct. 19 by Marana Police Det. Brad Clifford. The charge is listed as disorderly conduct, but details of the incident and Colon’s next hearing date were not available as of press time.