Mesa man shot girlfriend because he was upset about her outfit, police say
Police said a 22-year-old Mesa man shot and killed his girlfriend because he was jealous and upset about her outfit.
Martin Larney was arrested and booked Monday on suspicion of killing his girlfriend in Mesa after he became upset over the way she was dressed, according to Maricopa County court records.
Larney was being held Maricopa County Jail in the shooting death of 22-year-old Alina Duwyenie with bond set at $750,000, according to the records.
Mesa police were called to an apartment complex near Broadway Road and Country Club Drive just before 8:30 a.m. Sunday on reports of an accidental shooting, according to Steve Barry, a Mesa police spokesman. Duwyenie was found shot in the apartment and was transported to a hospital, where she died.
A man living in the apartment told police he had heard a loud noise and Larney yelling Duwyenie's name, according to the probable cause statement provided in court documents. He then walked into the room to find Larney holding the victim's head before the man moved the gun into another room.
During police interviews, Larney gave three different accounts of the events that led to Duwyenie's death, records state.
First, he told investigators he had purchased the gun for protection because he was concerned people were following him, the report said. He had loaded the gun and left it out in the bedroom after he had heard a noise outside the night before. The next morning, Larney said, he threw the gun across the couch when it accidentally fired and struck Duwyenie, police said.
Police said he later changed his story, claiming that the gun accidentally fired while he was attempting to unload it.
Larney later confessed that he had shot Duwyenie because he was "jealous and upset at the victim for what she was wearing," police said in court records.
He also told police he previously thought about shooting her in the past and had waved a handgun in her direction before, records say.
A handgun matching a fired cartridge casing was found in the home, police said.
Larney was booked on one count of second-degree murder.
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