PHOENIX — Investigators have arrested a suspect accused of murdering a man outside a Goodwill store in Mesa last month.
Johnathan Gliege, 32, was stabbed to death on Jan. 17 near the Goodwill near University Drive and Gilbert Road.
Mesa police said text messages on the victim's phone revealed that Gliege had been communicating with a contact named Angel and the two were planning to meet at Goodwill on the day Gliege was killed.
That phone number was registered to 45-year-old Luis Angel Nunez, who was allegedly seen by a witness at the scene of the crime when the victim was murdered.
Police said cell phone towers additionally placed Nunez's phone near the Goodwill when the crime took place.
Vanessa Gliege-Fonceca, Johnathan's older sister, said her brother had just moved to Mesa less than two weeks before his death to be closer to family. He was living with Gliege-Fonceca and her family.
"My heart felt whole again," Gliege-Fonceca told 12News last month. "He was very kind-hearted, very funny."
Mesa police took Nunez into custody last week. He's expected to be charged with second-degree murder and multiple probation violations.
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What is the Valley?
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.