A 61-year-old woman who was found severely injured underneath a vehicle in a North Phoenix backyard has died, and investigators are now calling her death a homicide as they search for whoever is responsible. Kiersten Fabiani was discovered shortly after 11 a.m. on October 8 near Greenway Road and 40th Street, and she died from her injuries 10 days later, on October 18.
Phoenix police received reports of an injured person near that intersection and found Fabiani severely hurt in the backyard, underneath a vehicle, according to Arizona's Family. She was unable to tell officers what had happened to her before she was rushed to a hospital. She never recovered, and her death has now pushed what began as an injury call into a full homicide investigation, with detectives actively working to identify and locate a suspect.
The location sits within the Paradise Valley Village planning area, a largely residential stretch of northeastern Phoenix. Police confirmed Fabiani's identity and are investigating her death as a homicide.
What Investigators Still Don't Know
Ten days passed between the moment Fabiani was found and the moment she died, and in that window police have not disclosed how she came to be trapped beneath the vehicle or who might have been involved. No suspect description, motive, or mechanism of injury has been made public. The case now rests heavily on whoever may have seen or heard something near Greenway Road and 40th Street on October 8.
Tip Line and Potential Penalties
Phoenix police are asking anyone with information to call 480-WITNESS at 480-948-6377, with Spanish-language callers directed to 480-TESTIGO at 480-837-8446. The Silent Witness program, which has operated in Phoenix since 1979 using privately donated funds, offers guaranteed anonymity and cash rewards of up to $2,000 for tips that lead to an arrest or indictment in felony homicide cases, according to Silent Witness.
If a suspect is eventually identified and charged, Arizona law classifies both first-degree murder under A.R.S. § 13-1105 and second-degree murder under A.R.S. § 13-1104 as Class 1 felonies; first-degree murder is punishable by death or life imprisonment, according to the Arizona State Legislature. First-degree murder requires premeditation or a death caused during specified enumerated offenses under that same statute.
A Neighborhood With a Troubled History
This isn't the first time the 40th Street and Greenway Road corridor has drawn investigators' attention. In June 2022, 36-year-old Michelle Bernstein-Schultz vanished from an apartment complex in the immediate area, a case that remains unresolved, 12News later reported.
Phoenix police have a Homicide Unit.
Why Community Tips Matter
Fabiani's case remains open, and detectives are asking anyone in the neighborhood with information to come forward.
