Elijah Miranda went to a friend’s air-conditioned apartment to cool off. He laid on the couch in the living room, escaping Tucson’s heat.
His friend left him in the apartment at Lind Commons, 3493 E. Lind Road, Thursday, Aug. 25, because Miranda wanted to sleep in comfort, enjoying the cold air that the swamp cooler at his mother’s southwest-side home could not produce.
It turned into a nightmare as Gavin Lee Stansell, who was facing eviction for disturbances at the apartment complex, went on a rampage and fatally shot three people, including 25-year-old Miranda, before Stansell committed suicide. Miranda’s friend was a neighbor to Stansell, 24.
In addition to Miranda, Pima County Constable Deborah Martinez-Garibay was killed when she went to evict Stansell. So was apartment manager Angela Fox-Heath.
Family and friends of the victims are grieving their loved ones.
Miranda’s mother is so distraught she cannot speak about her son.
So, Soleste Lupu and Joey Rodgers, who spent time with the mother after her son’s death, want to share bits of Miranda’s life as his friend and former dance instructors.
Miranda was 10 years old when he joined his younger brother at Dancing in the Streets Arizona, a performing arts school in the city of South Tucson that Lupu and Rodgers co-founded 15 years ago. Lupu described Elijah, their first scholarship student, as a “wonderful dancer” who was artistic and athletic. A tai chi instructor at the studio also worked with him.
“People were amazed by his performances because he was a big, husky boy, but when he danced he was light on his feet,” said Rodgers, as he pictured Miranda on stage, describing him as a “gentle giant.” He said “the ballerinas loved dancing with him because they knew he was strong and could lift and not drop them.”
“He could have been a linebacker on a football team. Yet, he was very gentle and attentive to the partner he was working with,” said Rodgers.
“He had this work ethic,” said Lupu. “He was driven to learn about ballet, and he took classes to learn and perfect his dance. He pushed his physical limitation as far as he could go. After technical classes three to four times a week, he was driven to practice, and the more times you come to class, the more you work out and your body gets stronger. The whole point of a dancer’s training is to have muscle memory. The steps should look easy and flow,” explained Lupu as she recalled Miranda’s dancing ability.
His first performance was “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” recalled Lupu of the show at the Berger Performing Arts Center on the campus of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. “He was quiet, kind and gentle. He was sharing with the audience the art, and they shared their love in return.”
Other performances Miranda was in included “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” and he played numerous roles in “The Nutcracker” ballet, including a soldier doll, a rat king, a prince, and the snow king, which was the most advanced part he played in 2014 at age 17.
Last year, Miranda was doing well, living in his own apartment, working as a general manager at a fast-food restaurant and planning to enroll in Pima Community College, said the couple.
But earlier this year, in January, his life took a turn. According to court documents, he was driving nearly 80 mph on North Campbell Avenue, south of East Grant Road, at night. He struck pedestrian Lawrence M. Leadman who was not in a crosswalk. Leadman died at the scene, and in April a grand jury indicted Miranda on a manslaughter charge. A case management conference was set for September, a step for trial preparation.
He was navigating the problems in his life, facing it and dealing with it, said Rodgers.
Dancing in the Streets Arizona will organize a private tribute for Miranda at the dance school and will look into forming the Elijah Miranda Scholarship for boys.
