The investigation into an officer-involved shooting late last year that resulted in the death of a Village of Oak Creek woman is moving forward.
On Nov. 7, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a residence on Cathedral Rock Drive for a domestic disturbance in which a woman had reportedly discharged a firearm.
“Upon arrival, the subject confronted the deputies outside of her residence armed with a handgun,” YCSO stated. “After multiple attempts at de-escalation and negotiations, as well as numerous verbal commands to drop the weapon, the subject brandished the firearm. In response to the threat to himself and the other first responders, a patrol sergeant and 16-year veteran of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office fired a single shot, striking the assailant.”
The woman, 56-year-old Wendy Jones, was pronounced dead at the scene, the release states. None of the deputies involved were injured.
At the request of former Yavapai County Sheriff Scott Mascher, the DPS conducted the investigation as is normal protocol in this type of fatal shooting.
On Nov. 22, the YCSO identified the first deputy on the scene as Esdras Agundez.
Sgt. John Johnson arrived after Agundez had been on scene for roughly 15 minutes. Johnson fired the single, fatal shot. YCSO released body camera video from the two deputies on Nov. 22.
DPS’ recently completed its investigation and investigators turned their findings over to the Yavapai County Atorney’s Office. It is the county attorney’s office’s job to review the incident and determine if the officer-involved shooting was justified.
Dennis McGrane, chief deputy in the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office, said he has not completed his review of the Nov. 7 shooting but that it should be completed in the next several weeks. While McGrane said he was not at liberty to discuss specifics of this case, he did explain what goes into an investigation once it hits his desk.
First off, officer-involved shooting cases are broken into two categories: Those in which a subject is wounded by the officer and the other in which an individual is killed by the officer.
Regardless, all OIS cases that occur in Yavapai County are reviewed by the YCAO.
“Everything comes through us,” he said. “We look at everything involved. DPS does not make their own decision on a case but provides us with everything in their investigation. They do an exceptional job. You will not find a more thorough report.”
For example, in the January 2020 incident when Jonathan Messare was shot and killed by Sedona police, DPS’ report was just over 400 pages.
Because of the length of the report, McGrane said he has to “crawl through things” in order to avoid missing anything. While DPS does not state in its findings whether or not it felt the officer was justified, McGrane said he is able to contact their investigators to get opinions on a case.
“In the end, I have to make the decision as to whether or not a crime was committed,” he said, adding that some cases are more difficult than others when rendering a decision. “To say that I look at some cases closer than others would not be inaccurate.”
And while the DPS reports are very thorough, McGrane said often times there’s more to his investigation than reading words on paper.
“There have been times when I have driven to where the shooting took place,” he said. “Sometimes pictures, maps and diagrams don’t do it justice. I want to stand where the officer stood and stand where the subject stood in order to get an even better understanding of the situation.”
