Arizona Man Kills 15-Year-Old in His Senior Living Apartment — Then Kills Himself Days Later By Christina Coulter

A 15-year-old girl was found shot to death in a west Phoenix apartment, and police say the case is now closed after the man suspected of killing her died by suicide.

On Aug. 4, officers found 15-year-old Kyelonna Meya Smiley shot to death around 9:40 a.m. inside an apartment at a senior living community near 77th Avenue and Encanto Boulevard, according to a Phoenix Police Department press release.

Detectives later identified 67-year-old Nohe Prado Morelia, a resident of the complex, as the suspect, per the release. Four days after Smiley’s death, Morelia was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a business near 24th Street and Van Buren.

“Since the date of Morelia’s death, Homicide detectives continued to work the murder of Kyelonna Smiley. This investigation has resulted in detectives establishing that Morelia was responsible for the murder of Smiley. No other suspects are believed to be involved in the murder. The motive remains unknown,” the department wrote in their release. “This case has been closed.”

Smiley’s mother, Fiyonna Austin, told Arizona’s Family that her daughter left home on Friday, Aug. 1, and was believed to be staying with a friend. When she didn’t return by Monday, Austin filed a missing persons report. Two days later, she learned her daughter had been found dead.

“It’s very frustrating at this point. Not knowing why my baby was taken. I’m really mad. And the guy who murdered my baby took a coward way to the end the whole thing, took his life, and I just want to know why,” Austin told the outlet.

She also spoke with Fox 10 Phoenix, saying: “The person who took my baby away shattered my world. I am very, very sad and heartbroken.”

Austin said she had never met Morelia and didn’t know why her daughter was at the senior community. Kyelonna was about to begin her freshman year at Trevor G. Browne High School, according to the outlets.

A GoFundMe has been launched to help the family with funeral costs and other expenses.

“This is incredibly painful to share with the rest of the world,” her mother wrote in the initiative. “She passed away so young and had a whole life to live.”