PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A legal loophole may be allowing killers to get away with murder in Arizona, according to victims’ families who say suspects are avoiding prosecution by claiming self-defense.
Arizona’s Family Investigates has reported on several cases in recent years where prosecutors declined charges despite police presenting evidence of crimes because of our state’s robust self-defense laws.
Michael Walter is battling cancer and missing his best friend, David Ricks. “I wouldn’t be here except for him because he’s the one that got me into treatment,” said Walter. “I looked out for him. He looked out for me.”
Ricks died in March 2024 in the Scottsdale trailer he called home.
The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner determined the 69-year-old was stabbed three times in the torso and suffered defensive wounds on his hands.
Police, the victim’s family and friends know who the killer is. According to the police report, even Timothy Grant, 76 at the time, known as “Wolf,” admits to stabbing David Ricks. The two men were long-time roommates and friends.
“He has absolutely zero remorse,” Walter said. “He literally said, ‘I could kill you.'”
During police interviews, Grant said it wasn’t murder, it was self-defense. Those close to Ricks believe Grant got away with a capital crime because Arizona’s self-defense laws can allow killers to walk free.
“Under Arizona law, if someone raises a self-defense claim in trial, prosecutors then have the burden of disproving self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. So, it’s the same standard as proving a crime itself,” said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
That’s a high burden, especially in murky situations with imperfect victims and no witnesses.
“When two people don’t have clean hands, it makes it very challenging with the law,” said Mitchell.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office doesn’t track how many self-defense cases it receives and refuses.
Before Lori Vallow Daybell was convicted of conspiring to kill her children, her brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Lori’s estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in 2019. Cox claimed self-defense and avoided arrest. Prosecutors now believe Cox went on to murder Vallow Daybell’s children.
Last year, county prosecutors declined to prosecute a 14-year-old who claimed self-defense. The teenager fatally stabbed 15-year-old Jaylen Reeves at a Phoenix park in November 2024.
A deadly road rage shooting last summer in Tempe shows that even when prosecutors ask for an indictment, there’s no guarantee. A grand jury rejected charges against the man who shot and killed a father in front of his children. The shooter claimed self-defense after the victim approached his truck.
The county attorney’s office is still reviewing another deadly road rage shooting from September. A woman claimed self-defense after shooting and killing a man accused of spitting on her at a red light in central Phoenix.
“The very first step in establishing a self-defense case is the defendant basically coming in and saying, ‘Yes, I did it. I am the person who used force, causing either the injury or death, but it was legally justified,” said Andrew Marcantel, a partner at Attorneys for Freedom, who only handles self-defense cases.
Marcantel said there are legal requirements meant to prevent people from using self-defense as a strategy to get off scot-free.
“The threat that you’re facing must be imminent,” said Marcantel. “It’s something that you’ve got to defend yourself because you have no other choice. And finally, the amount of force that you use has to be proportionate to the amount of force that you’re facing.”
It’s rare for these kinds of cases to be black and white, and Arizona’s Family Investigates found that the gray area can keep them from going to trial.
Many times when someone claims self-defense, it’s a he-said, she-said, and one of them is dead.
In the Timothy Grant investigation, a lack of evidence was a problem.
He was initially booked for manslaughter, but the county attorney’s office turned down charges, saying there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
“I was outraged,” said Walter.
Scottsdale detectives interviewed witnesses, collected evidence and even put a wire on Walter to record conversations with Grant in an effort to capture a confession.
“Basically told me the SWAT team or the officers are going to be right around the corner, but they need to keep me in view so I can’t go in the house, and I wish I had, looking back at it, because I think I could have got him to, you know, tell me the truth eventually,” said Walter.
“His story of self-defense isn’t really coming through or being supported by the evidence itself,” said Jay Rademacher, a former death penalty prosecutor turned defense attorney who reviewed the police report about Ricks’ death.
Rademacher noted that people accused Grant of threatening to kill Ricks before he died. Grant kept changing his story and had minor injuries, while Ricks had defensive wounds and was known to struggle with health and mobility, which could have made it difficult for him to be the aggressor.
“I think it should have at least been presented to a grand jury and allowed them to make the determination. There’s enough there to suggest that he didn’t act in self-defense,” said Rademacher.
“Based on my analysis of countless self-defense cases in Arizona, this would be one that the prosecutor would have a very difficult time proving if it did go to trial,” said Marcantel.
Marcantel argued Ricks’ history of alcohol abuse strengthens Grant’s case for self-defense, and some witnesses described Ricks as violent while drinking.
“It’s not a high-profile case. David wasn’t anybody important. You know, Wolf’s an old man. You know, it just, it seems like it just got kind of brushed aside because there was no significance,” said Walter.
Walter feels Ricks was cheated by the system since his case never even made it to the start of the court process. Now he’s left to grieve, without closure.
“I believe in justice, and I don’t think people should just commit crimes and get away with it,” said Walter.
Grant still lives in the trailer he shared with Ricks and declined an interview.
