David Denogean was 30 years old and known across Phoenix high school athletics when he was shot and killed while walking his dog near 12th Street and Maryland Avenue on Black Friday in 2022. Nearly four years later, newly obtained body camera video and crime scene photos are giving his family, and the public, their first close look at what investigators saw in the chaotic minutes after the shooting, and why the case remains unsolved.
The footage and photos were obtained by ABC15 Arizona, whose investigators reported receiving full surveillance videos, body camera footage, and crime scene photos from the case. Reporter Ashley Holden's investigation shows a chaotic scene near 12th Street and Maryland just moments after the shooting, with surveillance video capturing a figure running out of the shadows to stand in front of Denogean and raise a gun. The gunman fired more than 10 shots before running from the scene, according to the outlet's review of the footage.
Denogean was shot multiple times in the chest and legs in front of Feeney's Restaurant & Bar before Phoenix Fire Department paramedics rushed him to HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center, where he died, according to 12News. His dog, Evie, followed the person running from the scene and later returned home without her collar or leash, per the ABC15 report.
A Purple Bullet and a Mystery Sedan
Among the physical evidence recovered at the scene were shell casings and what one officer called an unusual find: a purple bullet. Body camera audio captured an officer remarking, “I've never seen a purple bullet,” per the footage reviewed by the outlet. Police found a piece of evidence that looked almost like a handload, and the bullet was tested for fingerprints and DNA, though a Phoenix police statement said that testing resulted in no profile.
Crime scene records also included a grainy photo of a car. Witnesses described a sedan that some thought could be involved, though surveillance video could not identify the sedan's make or model and captured no license plate. Phoenix police identified a small, light-colored, possibly gray, four-door sedan as a vehicle of interest in the homicide, based on witness descriptions given to police.
A Suspect Emerges, But No Charges
Less than 24 hours after Denogean's shooting, a second shooting occurred at a north Phoenix gas station. The suspect in that shooting fatally shot 57-year-old commercial painter and musician Joseph Patruno on November 26, 2022, at a 76 station near Cave Creek and Bell roads, according to KTAR News. The man was arrested at the scene after placing a .38 caliber revolver on the counter, telling the clerk he was turning himself in, and telling arresting officers, among other statements, that “Satan is evil,” according to Phoenix New Times.
Phoenix police incident reports identified the 29-year-old as the primary suspect in Denogean's murder shortly after his arrest in the gas station killing, per the same Phoenix New Times investigation. Investigators noted the vehicle used by the suspect in that following day's murder was similar to the vehicle of interest from Denogean's case, though police said they could not definitively say the two vehicles were the same. In December 2023, a Phoenix police detective interrogated him at headquarters regarding Denogean's murder, but he denied knowing Denogean and invoked his right to counsel, after which police never submitted the case to prosecutors for charging, the outlet reported.
The man took a plea deal in 2024 and agreed to spend 25 years behind bars, but was convicted only in the gas station shooting; he was never charged in Denogean's case. He has since faced allegations of assaulting a corrections officer in at least one case and has been charged in multiple cases while in prison, per the same investigation. He remains, according to Phoenix police, a suspect in Denogean's murder, though no arrests have been made in that case.
A Family Left in the Dark
Phoenix police failed to inform Denogean's family for nearly three years that they had identified a prime suspect in 2023, leaving the family to discover the lead through media public records requests in 2025, the Phoenix New Times reported. Denogean's parents publicly criticized police for withholding those details, and David's parents said they hoped to meet with investigators soon. Phoenix police have said they plan to have a sergeant follow up with the family.
“This person didn't just murder David, you took somebody that was important to a lot of people,” Denogean's father, Frank Denogean, said. Before his death, David Denogean earned a degree in secondary education from Arizona State University and played college football at Phoenix College before becoming a teacher and head track coach at Camelback High School, a role that made him well known across Phoenix high school athletics.
The Case Remains Cold
Phoenix police have classified Denogean's case as a cold case with no new leads located, though the department maintains it considers the case active and still being worked. A police report noted that investigators had received new supplements added to the case and had noticed similarities between Denogean's fatal shooting and the following day's shooting. Silent Witness has offered a $20,000 reward in the case and released part of surveillance video from nearby businesses in hopes of generating tips.
The Denogean family has continued to hold multiple events in his honor each year, including a toy drive around Christmas and a planned yearly Black Friday vigil in November aimed at raising awareness about the case. Hoodline previously reported on the family's second-anniversary vigil for justice and their annual toy drive tied to the search for his killer. In March, local high school track athletes honored the slain coach by competing in the inaugural David Denogean Throwers Classic at Carl Hayden Community High School, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
The family has said it hopes that speaking out and sharing the newly obtained video and photos will motivate someone to come forward with answers. Denogean's case is one of thousands like it nationwide: the U.S. murder clearance rate stood at 61% in 2024, leaving more than 6,200 homicides unsolved that year, according to the Murder Accountability Project. Phoenix itself recorded 217 homicides in 2022, the year Denogean was killed, before the city's homicide count fell to 191 in 2023 and then dropped 28% in 2024 amid targeted police initiatives against violent offenders, per 12News.
