Newlywed Bride Fatally Stabbed in Home Depot Parking Lot Used Her Last Words to ID Husband as Killer By KC Baker

An Arizona man who was convicted of fatally stabbing his newlywed wife in the parking lot of a Home Depot in 2024 has learned his fate.

On Monday, Aug. 18, Stephen Dennis, 36, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of his wife, Aliccia Grant, 37, a mother of two, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced.

Earlier this year, Dennis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

“This wasn’t just a violent crime — it was an act of betrayal carried out by someone who should have been a source of safety, not fear,” Mitchell said in a press release. “There is something especially cruel about a murder that takes place within a relationship that’s intended to be built on trust. We will continue to aggressively pursue and hold violent domestic abusers accountable.”

The shocking murder took place in the early morning hours of Sept. 9, 2024, when Phoenix Police responded to a call about a stabbing outside a Home Depot in north Phoenix. 

“Witnesses walking nearby heard a woman screaming for help and discovered the victim in the driver’s seat of a red Prius with multiple stab wounds,” Mitchell said in the release.

Dennis, who was in the front passenger seat, got out of the vehicle, argued with a bystander, then fled the scene on foot after grabbing a bag from the car, witnesses said, according to Mitchell’s release.

Witnesses and officers rendered aid to Grant.

“As one of the officers continued to apply pressure to the victim’s wounds, the victim made a dying declaration identifying Dennis as her attacker,” Mitchell said in the release.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

Shortly after the incident, Dennis called 911 and admitted to stabbing his wife, Mitchell said in the release. He also told officers where to find the murder weapon, which they were able to recover.

Dennis told police the couple had recently married and were discussing an annulment at the time of the incident, Mitchell said.

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As Dennis begins his sentence at the Arizona Department of Corrections, Grant’s family is mourning her loss.

In a GoFundMe set up to defray funeral costs and to help support Grant’s two children, 10 and 16, her family wrote, “Although Aliccia was taken from us far too soon, her endlessly hopeful energy left a permanent mark of inspiration on all of us who knew and loved her. 

“She will be remembered as a loving daughter, sister, cousin, and friend, but most of all as a wonderful mom to her two beloved kids.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.