The Maricopa County Attorney General’s Office announced Friday that a man has been charged in connection with the fatal burning of a man in a dumpster in Phoenix in March.
Dave Jacuan Kahlil Dinkins, 23, faces four charges, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, arson of a building and leaving or concealing a corpse, according to the attorney’s office.
“This indictment is an indication of the hard work that prosecutors in this office put into every case every day,” Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the release. “Bringing justice to victims, regardless of the circumstances, is the mission of this office.”
On March 21, the Phoenix Police Department originally responded to the 11th Avenue and Madison Street area for a homicide investigation where the body of an unidentified man had been set on fire in a dumpster in “The Zone,” an area near 12th Avenue and Madison. Street where more than 1,000 people without homes live in tents on the street.
Related: ACLU Asks Judge To Find Phoenix For Contempt Of Court Over Cleaning Up ‘The Zone’
The investigation initially resulted in the arrest of two of the three detainees, 22-year-old Larry Scott and 19-year-old Isaiah Baskin, and Scott was later released to face drug charges afterwards.
MCAO did not press charges against Scott in the arson murder, but they did against Baskin.
Police alleged that Baskin told them that Scott and an unknown third man, now known as Dinkins, beat up the victim, wrapped him in garbage bags, and then helped them put the victim in a dumpster. He also told them that Dinkins was the one who started the fire, and he and Scott added firewood to the fire afterwards, police claimed.
According to a police report, surveillance videos found by police from local businesses and residents showed Baskin and Dinkins lifting the man into the dumpster.
Baskin has also since been charged, with an open case of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and arson of a building or property.
No other information was released.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man charged with fatally burning body in Phoenix dumpster
