GOODYEAR, AZ — The ABC15 Investigators are tracking developments in an evidentiary hearing for a high-profile child murder case that’s at risk because the Goodyear Police Department has substantial issues with tracking evidence.
May 14, 2026 - Second former evidence worker details issues seen firsthand
The former supervisor Gamez spent over half the day on the stand, getting asked questions by both prosecutors and then defense attorneys for a final time.
The next witness called was a second evidence worker, who detailed the issues they observed firsthand while working in the unit.
Carl Afostmes retired as a property and evidence officer in April, after working for years at Goodyear Police.
He said when the unit transitioned to a new software, there was a "widespread" issue of items that were checked out and returned being listed as "disposed".
Afostmes said that the issue was ultimately resolved in 2025, but no audit was done immediately after.
He also said he noticed an issue with a log entry, which included a time when staff would not have been at the police department.
"The times were all askew on some evidence," said Afostmes. "The times were all like one in the morning times for evidence being submitted and accepted at one in the morning. Which, nobody's there at one in the morning."
The hearing is set to resume with Afostmes back on the stand. Due to scheduling issues, the parties will return on dates spread out through June.
After the hearing is done, Judge Patricia Starr will decide if the case should be dismissed for good.
May 13, 2026
A former Goodyear Police property and evidence supervisor testified that the department's evidence problems were widely known and that her unit had been overlooked and under-resourced for years.
Andrea Gamez, who resigned and retired in April after Goodyear placed her under investigation because of chain-of-custody issues, got emotional on the stand as she described what it was like to work inside the department.
"From the time when I started in 2011, we didn't have a lot of support," Gamez said.
"In terms of work-related items… I don't know if it's across the board in law enforcement but property and evidence is always the most overlooked unit in a police agency," Gamez said.
Gamez said the unit was always short-staffed, critical equipment didn't work, they didn't get basic resources, and requests for more training went unfulfilled.
During cross-examination, the defense established that the ability to change entry times in the evidence tracking system was not a secret kept from detectives or officers.
"What you told (a detective) was nothing that was a closely guarded secret… with the respect to changing the times, the ability from property and evidence officials to change times," the defense said.
"That would be correct because we did have property administrative rights to do so," Gamez said.
The defense also showed an email that Gamez sent to top police brass with a long list of issues. It was sent more than a year before the Cunningham trial began.
She testified that those issues were largely left unaddressed.
Gamez also described how the main detective in the case, Noah Yeo, reacted when he was confronted with the evidence issues and claimed he was unaware of the problems.
Records show, during an internal interview, Yeo referred to the situation as a “massive sh** storm.”
"It was insulting to me from my years of service that I did my due diligence and the best of my abilities to educate all of the officers that came in it was like wow," Gamez said.
"I was embarrassed I was humiliated…I will forever…well hopefully not forever but that's scorned me for a while," Gamez said.
Gamez is the second witness called during the special hearing.
More evidence workers are expected to take the stand, along with the police chief as the evidentiary hearing continues.
During a special evidentiary hearing in a controversial child murder case, a Goodyear police detective admitted under oath that he knew about problems with key pieces of evidence months before the trial began and never disclosed them.
Detective Noah Yeo said that he discovered back in May 2025 that there were inaccurate times and dates in the chain of custody logs regarding cell phone evidence in the case against Germayne and Lisa Cunningham.
However, he didn’t alert anyone about those issues until January 2026, when the trial had already been underway for five months.
DEFENSE: "You failed to disclose it."
DET YEO: "Yes."
Defense attorneys used Yeo's testimony to establish how much the prosecution's case depends on two key pieces of evidence now in question — the Cunninghams' cell phones.
And the defense pressed how Goodyear’s broken system for tracking the evidence chain of custody impacts this case and others.
DET. YEO: "Yes, like I said, the phones were very important.”
DEFENSE: “But they're not just very important, they were the evidence for the felony murder count. There's no getting around that. There's no other evidence you could use aside from the phone, right? That's all the timeline, that's who called who, that's who waited, isn't that everything? There's no other evidence. It was the timing, right?”
DET. YEO: “Yes.”
DEFENSE: “And that could only be established from the phone.”
DET. YEO: “Correct.”
DEFENSE: “Correct. So, those phones are the most important piece of evidence in the case.”
DET. YEO: "They were important."
Yeo testified for the full first day of the evidentiary hearing, which is expected to last all week and then continue over scattered dates in the coming months. Goodyear Police Chief Brian Issitt, several property and evidence supervisors, and possibly prosecutors are also expected to take the stand.
Judge Patricia Starr is weighing whether to dismiss the charges against the Cunninghams after declaring a mistrial because of the evidence issues last month.
The Cunninghams are charged with murder for the 2017 death of their 7-year-old daughter. They are accused of abuse and failing to get her medical care quickly enough, leading to her death.
In the video player below, ABC15 Investigators Dave Biscobing and Ashley Holden discuss the evidence problems with the Goodyear Police Department.
This digital story was produced using AI based on ABC15 on-air reporting. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
