Police are releasing the name of an 18-year-old man who is accused of shooting and killing a teenager in a north Phoenix home.
Police were called to a neighborhood near 28th Street and Cactus Road around 6 a.m. Thursday after receiving reports from a resident about a shooting.
According to police documents, Lee told investigators that he and the victim left the victim’s home to go back to Lee’s home. At some point, the victim told Lee that they were going to break into the home’s safe to get the guns. The victim reportedly had a gun already and pointed it at Lee, telling him he was going to help break into the safe.
Police say the pair spent an hour trying to break in and made a small hole in the back of the safe. When the victim saw the inside was empty, Lee said he was going to call 911 to report that someone was in his home. Lee left the room and came back to find the victim sitting with his back to the door on his mother’s bed.
According to Lee, a gun was sitting behind the victim on the bed, which Lee used to shoot the victim because “he did not like the victim going through his mother’s medications”. He said he knew it wasn’t right and that he did not feel threatened by the victim at that time.
According to police, James Lee went to his neighbor's house after the shooting. The neighbor told officials that Lee appeared to be visibly shaken by the incident but was able to calm down before police arrived.
It's believed that the 17-year-old victim was staying at the same house as the alleged shooter, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lee is facing second-degree murder charges in connection to the shooting.
