Welcome to Arrest Stories. An eighteen-year-old Phoenix man has been arrested after allegedly killing his neighbor and then living in the victim's home for weeks while the body decomposed in the backyard. Here's what may have happened.
On January twelfth around eleven fifteen p.m., Phoenix police officers responded to a welfare check call near Southern and Fifty-first Avenues in the Laveen area. According to police reports, neighbors had not seen a man at his home in several days, but noticed traffic going in and out of the residence. When officers arrived, they contacted a neighbor who stated they believed someone was inside the home.
Police established containment around the property and contacted the person inside. The individual was later identified as eighteen-year-old Xzavion Johnson. During questioning, Johnson admitted to committing a burglary of the home, during which he shot and killed the homeowner, David Jimenez. Johnson estimated the shooting occurred in December of two thousand twenty-five.
According to investigators, Johnson saw Jimenez's side gate was open and went inside intending to steal money while armed with a handgun. Johnson told detectives his goal was to kill Jimenez, shooting him three times. After the shooting, Johnson covered the victim's body with blankets in the backyard.
Since the date of the homicide, Johnson had been living at Jimenez's home. Police say Johnson used the victim's credit cards and drove Jimenez's vehicle. Officers discovered Jimenez's body in the backyard in advanced stages of decomposition.
Johnson's mother reportedly called nine-one-one after smelling a foul odor and noticing her son's mail at Jimenez's house. One neighbor expressed shock, stating "I would have never guessed that, that kid that I've known for five years, I've watched him grow up, went over there and shot somebody."
Police described the case as "incredibly tragic" and "completely unbelievable."
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.