Tucson police: Teen's killer slain in gunfight years later

A man killed in a shootout in 2021 has been named the likely gunman in the killing of a 15-yea-old boy in 2019, Tucson police say.

The body of Erik Isaac Nañez, 15, was found about 6 a.m. Sept. 18, 2019 in the street near East Drexel Road and South Campbell Avenue.

The boy had been shot to death, police said Wednesday in a news release.

Neighbors told detectives heard gunshots the night before then several cars speed away. No one called 911.

Despite an investigation that included multiple interviews, search warrants and a plea for help from the public, no arrests were made in connection with the killing of Nañez.

Investigators said they learned the teen was in the area to meet someone for an “arranged transaction,” the release said.

With this knowledge, detectives continued their investigation into the teen’s death for the next year and a half with no arrests.

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In 2021, a fatal shooting would lead detectives to the man they say was responsible for Nañez’s death: Edsel Cecena-Marquez, who was 19 years old when he was shot and killed, the release said.

On Feb. 21, 2021, detectives responded to an apartment complex parking lot in the 5900 block of South Park Avenue for reports of fight.

Once there, detectives learned that Cecena-Marquez and another individual exchanged gunfire and that Cecena-Marquez was struck and left for dead in the parking lot.

In investigating Cecena-Marquez’s killing, detectives recovered evidence, including trace DNA. By comparing evidence from both cases, detectives identified Cecena-Marquez as the shooter in Erik Nañez’s killing.

There have been no arrest in the killing of Cecena-Marquez, police say.