The killing of a pregnant 16-year-old in Buckeye is spotlighting how Arizona prosecutes homicides involving unborn children.
Rylee Montgomery was just over 13 weeks pregnant when she was fatally shot May 14.
Her family said the shooter was a boyfriend who tried pressuring her into an abortion following an unplanned pregnancy. Michael Isiah Sanchez, 18, was charged on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Under Arizona law, the death of an unborn child is handled as a homicide — Sanchez's second suspected murder charge relates to the unborn baby Montgomery's family said the teen was carrying.
Buckeye police recommended a third suspected murder charge against Sanchez in connection to the May 20 death of a baby boy. The newborn died after being delivered by a 17-year-old mother who was shot and injured by Sanchez, police said.
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As of May 22, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office had not replied to The Arizona Republic on whether prosecutors would seek a third suspected murder count in the case following the newborn's death. Antonio Tequida, 19, is also charged in the case in suspicion of hindering prosecution as police said he admitted to knowing Montgomery was dead when he drove Sanchez from the shooting scene.
These are four Arizona cases in which a pregnant homicide victim's assailant was initially charged on two counts of murder.
Plea deal reduced conviction in deadly encounter
Alexander R. Delcid, 30, is serving 18 years in prison for second-degree murder in the Sept. 12, 2023 shooting death of 35-year-old Alexis Rodriguez in Yuma, according to prison records and previous reporting by The Republic. Delcid was sentenced with time served in November after pleading guilty the month prior, according to KYMA CBS 13.
Delcid initially faced two counts of first-degree murder in the case, which Yuma police spokesperson Sgt. Lori Franklin said at the time was not a random act of violence. A man was also shot in the incident but survived, police said.
Dad convicted in murders
Bariki Amani Hopkins, 37, was found guilty May 15 on two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 26-year-old girlfriend, Anisa Linette Moreno, who was 16 weeks pregnant, according to Tucson's KOLD-TV.
Moreno was shot early in the morning on Jan. 30, 2025, and she and the child she was carrying initially survived, The Republic reported. Authorities later announced the two died Feb. 1 after Moreno was taken off life support following what court documents described as a single shot to the back of her head, according to the ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV.
Hopkins was the father of the child Moreno was expecting, the Star reported.
His sentencing is scheduled for June 22, according to KOLD.
Model sentenced in fatal stabbing
Fabian Durazo, 28, is serving 50 years in prison for two counts of second-degree murder in the Jan. 27, 2019 stabbing death of Kristina Howato, 39, according to prison records and previous reporting by The Republic.
Howato was a Lyft driver in her third trimester of pregnancy when she picked Durazo up as a customer in Tempe before he mortally attacked her and fled in her SUV, according to charging documents. She and her unborn child died at the hospital, court documents said.
A former Arizona State University student and an aspiring model, Durazo was, according to court records, sentenced Sept. 23, 2022, after pleading guilty the month prior. Prison records list his release date as 2069, which indicates the sentence included time served.
Woman killed in front of daughter
Dwight Anthony Miles Jr., 44, is serving 28 years in prison for two counts of second-degree murder in the April 17, 2018 shooting death of Chelsee Dennis, 29, according to prison records and previous reporting by The Republic.
Fatally shot by Miles in a car in Phoenix in front of her 5-year-old daughter, Dennis was seven months pregnant at the time with the suspect's child, according to court documents. The baby boy was delivered after the shooting and was placed in critical condition, documents noted. The newborn died a week later, police said.
Miles was sentenced to prison in April 2020 after pleading guilty roughly two months earlier, according to court records. Prison records list his release date as 2066, which indicates the sentence included time served.

