PHOENIX (TCN) — A 31-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in prison in connection with the deaths of three people found in an apartment fire last year.
Per a June 23 news release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Chase Christman received three consecutive natural life sentences after he pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed robbery, and one count of misconduct involving weapons.
According to authorities, in July 2024, the Phoenix Fire Department responded to an Ahwatukee residential complex and noticed smoke coming from an apartment. Fire personnel entered an unlocked door and discovered three individuals, Merissa Honeycutt, Samuel Lott, and Anthony Frederickson Ceccarelli, deceased in a bedroom.
An initial release from prosecutors said each victim “showed signs of trauma, including gunshot and stab wounds,” and three pets were also found dead from the fire. According to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, one of the victims had been “stabbed nearly 30 times.”
Investigators recovered evidence, including text messages, Christman’s blood at the scene, and location data from the defendant’s phone, revealing he was near the apartment. Authorities determined Christman and an accomplice, Dorian Rice, allegedly “planned a drug-related robbery” before the victims were killed.
A jury previously indicted Christman and Rice in August 2024 of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and three counts of armed robbery. Christmas was also indicted on charges of misconduct involving weapons, three counts of intentionally killing a domestic animal, and one count of arson of an occupied structure.
Mitchell called it a “particularly vicious act,” adding, “This defendant tried to cover his tracks by setting the crime scene on fire. I’m grateful to the Phoenix Police Department for their investigative work and our prosecutors who made sure he was unable to escape justice.”
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