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PD: Murder victim's friend helps track down suspect

Antonio Grijalva Ybarra.jpg
Matthew Groves.jpg
Posted at 11:42 AM, Jan 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-10 14:51:37-05

PHOENIX — A murder victim's friend did some investigating of their own and gave police information that helped track down the suspect.

According to police, around 4:30 a.m. on July 21, officers responded to a report of a shooting near The Purple Turtle at 51st Avenue and Indian School Road.

As officers arrived, they found a man, identified as 26-year-old Matthew Groves, unresponsive in a parking lot with a gunshot wound.

Phoenix fire personnel transported to the man in critical condition, but he later died from his injuries.

A friend of Groves began receiving tips from different sources alleging that 24-year-old Antonio Grijalva Ybarra was bragging about stealing someone’s backpack and then shooting them.

The friend went online to find information about Ybarra including his address.

They went by his home and found a mountain bike in front of the house. Police say the same mountain bike was allegedly seen in surveillance video being ridden away from the murder scene.

Police say surveillance video from multiple angles shows Groves riding a skateboard and then lying down, before a person on the mountain bike approaches.

He is then seen riding away with Groves' backpack.

Ybarra has reportedly admitted to police that he stole the backpack but denies shooting Groves.

He is being held on a $650,000 bond for armed robbery and first-degree murder.