TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The mother of a man murdered in March of 2022 is speaking out—hoping to bring change for herself and for other families in her position.
Rashad Smith and Celina Garcia were shot to death on March 23rd of last year on South 12th Street.
Zachary Joseph Thomas Naifeh, the man responsible for those murders, is now serving two life sentences for those crimes after taking a guilty plea to the charges this week.
Today I spoke to Rashad Smith's mother Dawn, who is frustrated with the fact that her son's killer was released on pre-trial services for other crimes he committed prior to the murders.
"When you have a gentleman that has been out of prison less than two months and committed crime after crime, was arrested and put you him back out on the street, you put him back out the streets and he had, what, a 48-hour madness he took Tucson through," Dawn tells me.
"And then in that madness I lost my son. Celine's parents lost their daughter. Her kids lost their mother for us to not be able to get no type of recourse on this system that is just letting criminals loose to terrorize the city. That's not fair to people"
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Heidi Alagha is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. Heidi spent 5 years as the morning anchor in Waco where she was named the best anchor team by the Texas Associated Press. Share your story ideas and important issues with Heidi by emailing heidi.alagha@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.