On June 23, 2013, Sheriff’s Department Homicide detectives brought Stephen Malone back to Tucson from Los Angeles. Mr. Malone was wanted in the June 11, 2013, death of Augustina Soto.
On June 11, 2013, Pima County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of shots fired in the 4900 block of East Butterweed Drive. When deputies arrived, they located a deceased victim identified as 25-year-old Augustina Soto with obvious signs of trauma in the driver’s seat of a vehicle.
The female passenger in the vehicle with Ms. Soto suffered non-life threatening injuries.
During the course of this investigation, Homicide detectives verified that Soto and Stephen J. Malone were in a domestic relationship, and had three children together. Two of their children, ages four and five, were in the rear seat of the vehicle when the incident occurred. The children were unharmed and moved to a safe location.
On June 12, 2013, Homicide detectives received a tip on the location of Malone. Before Malone could be apprehended, he fled the Tucson area and went to Los Angeles. With the assistance of the United States Marshals Service and the Los Angeles Police Department, Mr. Malone was arrested and taken into custody.
Upon returning to Tucson, Mr. Malone was booked into the Pima County Adult Detention on the following charges:
• Domestic Violence/Murder 1st Degree,
• 3 Counts Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon or Dangerous Instrument,
• 2 Counts Domestic Violence/Endangerment,
• Discharging a Firearm at a Structure