Arizona Man Arrested in Double Slaying
An Arizona man has been arrested in connection with the slaying of two Santa Ana roommates, police said Thursday.
Police allege Jaime Christian Creech, 25, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., shot and killed Stephanie Larkin, 30, and Derek Mattingly, 28, in their North Grand Avenue apartment in March.
Based on information from the victims’ friends and relatives, police tracked Creech to Arizona.
Santa Ana police, Cochise County sheriff’s deputies, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Sierra Vista Police Department arrested Creech Wednesday night on a no-bail warrant without incident. The suspect is awaiting extradition proceedings in Arizona.
Police said Creech was living in Santa Ana at the time of the double homicide. Santa Ana police Chief Paul M. Walters said detectives are investigating a suspected “relationship between drugs and the homicides.”
The chief declined to elaborate on motives, citing the continuing investigation.
Police said the two victims had been shot more than once. Larkin was found in her bed with multiple gunshot wounds; Mattingly in a chair in the living room. Each had been shot in the head.
Creech has a conviction for illegal possession of a firearm, officials said. Police said they haven’t recovered the weapon used in the double homicide.
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