MESA, Ariz — An arrest has been made in connection to the shooting of a Mesa shoe repair store owner earlier in the week, the Mesa Police Department announced on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Dec. 6, a customer arrived to Lamb's Shoe Repair to find the owner, 58-year-old Jesus De La Rosa, dead inside the business, police said. According to the report, De La Rosa was found with multiple gunshot wounds.
During the investigation, it was found that De La Rosa had filed a police report on Dec. 1 regarding a stolen firearm. He told police that he'd allowed an unhoused man to use his business's restroom on occasion, and believed that the man may have taken his handgun.
De La Rosa's family told police that he had brought a gun and holster to work that day. He was found still wearing the holster but without the gun in question.
Detectives found spent ammunition that matched the caliber of both the gun that had been stolen earlier in the month and the gun that De La Rosa had brought to work on the day of his death.
It was also discovered that De La Rosa's cellphone, which family said he always had on him, was missing.
Witnesses said that they saw a man in strange clothing in the area, and light rail surveillance footage showed a man in a helmet carrying a cane get off the light rail near Country Club Drive and Main Street.
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When he got back on the light rail, he was missing the cane. Police found that same cane in Lamb's Shoe Repair.
Police were able to track De La Rosa's cellphone data from Mesa to Phoenix along the same light rail route that the man took back from Mesa. The phone was finally powered off that night near the Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) in Phoenix.
When police arrived at CASS on Friday night, they found 65-year-old Lynell Brosier with De La Rosa's stolen gun in the waistband of his pants.
Brosier was arrested on charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and other smaller charges.
"He was such a great man," said friend Adrian Hoffman.
"He was the guy," said Sam Bueler. "He was the shoe shine guy; he was the shoe guy."
"Caring, loving, kind, compassionate," said Hoffman. "Happy-go-lucky, hard worker, a friend."
A friend whose life tragically ended Tuesday.
"It makes me sick," said Bueler. "I think trying to find somebody like him. You just can't. There's no replacing him. He's a one-of-a-kind guy. I'm grateful the police acted as quickly as they did, but it just doesn't absolve the pain. That's the worst."
Claudia said she's known Fabian for years and always enjoyed going to the shop.
"Very funny person," she said. "He had a lot of friends. All of the time when I came here, three or four people would be here laughing. Fabian is a good person."
She last saw Fabian around Thanksgiving. She said she'll never forget it because she also saw the man accused of killing him in the store.
"I came to take my daughter's boots and my shoes, and I see the guy," she said.
She said Brosier was leaving and commented on her shoes. She said she got an uneasy feeling.
"I asked who is this person, and he said he was homeless," she recalled.
Other customers and friends spoke with 12News, saying always loved helping people and putting others before himself. One of those men, they said, was Brosier, which is why it's so hard for so many to understand why this happened.
The laughter, which customers say filled Fabian's store, has now been silenced. The smiles have now been replaced with tears.
"It's hard for me to wrap my mind around it," said Bueler.
As people stopped to reflect Saturday on a man who they say was more like family, the pain of saying goodbye is one thing that can never be fixed.
"He took away something we all treasured, and that's the hardest part," said Bueler. "It's hard to swallow. I think the reality of it probably hasn't set in truthfully."
"I think the way we move forward is just to remember this wonderful human being, our friend," said Hoffman.
The Mesa Police Department released the following statement about Jesus De La Rosa:
"It goes without saying, but we want to say it anyway. Jesus Fabian De La Rosa (Fabian) was a pillar in our Mesa Community. He has owned Lamb’s Shoe Repair since 2005 and has never hesitated to help anyone in need. It is apparent how much he meant to the community in the comments left by over 100 people on our social media platforms. Our hope is that his family sees and reads the comments and knows how much he was loved by seemingly everyone."
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