ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

On Ryane Martinez-Garibay’s 22nd birthday, she started work at her retail job and texted her mom about having lunch the next day. The two would celebrate by getting Indian food, their favorite, and Ryane would show her mom her newly decorated apartment.

Instead, Ryane received a phone call from a family friend that a constable had been shot at a nearby apartment complex. She went on a frantic search to locate her mom, Constable Deborah Martinez-Garibay, who had just texted her to arrange birthday plans a few hours before.

Deborah was not at her home, and none of the nearby hospitals had reported receiving her.

Ryane eventually got another call, this time from an unknown man’s voice: “He said, your mom, she was shot, and she didn’t make it,� Ryane recalled.

Deborah was one of three killed Thursday at Lind Commons Apartments after a man being evicted shot her, apartment manager Angela Fox-Heath and neighbor Elijah Miranda before turning the gun on himself.

Gavin Lee Stansell, the 24-year-old shooter, was facing eviction from the apartment for threatening a neighbor with a gun “and has otherwise disturbed the peace,� according to court records.

But Deborah’s family questions whether she knew of the true danger she faced, and why there was a lack of safety afforded to her and other victims.

The family says a detective working on the case alerted them that Stansell’s mother had called for a wellness check on him the morning before the shooting due to the concerning behavior he displayed. TPD could not confirm if a wellness check was called in Thursday morning, but Sgt. Richard Gradillas, a department spokesman, said he was not aware of one based on the criminal briefing of the shooting.

“As far as we know, that was not communicated to Deborah. And so she went into this situation blind,� said Joanna Caballero, one of Deborah’s three sisters.

According to Esther Gonzalez, constable for Justice Precinct 2 and a close friend of Deborah’s, constables are only given the information provided on the judgment issued for the papers they serve. Constables can look up a person through a computer system, she said, which can tell them if a person has been “booked into the jail or has had some kind of contact with law enforcement.�

Gonzalez said serving papers to those with criminal backgrounds is “a daily thing.�

“And if you have on your plate consistently 15 to 20 evictions a day, on top of all the other work we do, I mean, we’re just going through these nonstop,� she said.

As they mourn Deborah’s death, the constable’s family is waiting for answers on how such a deadly situation unfolded after a standard eviction.

“What are those steps in place to protect people? I think at the very least, they ought to do a warrant check for them prior to sending out these constables, to see what kind of threats they’re facing when they get to that place,� said Michelle Martinez-LaVetter, Deborah’s sister. “And then briefing those constables and saying you know what, this might be a little too dangerous for you. Let’s send our cops out there, and let’s send our deputies out there.�

“There’s a lot of answers that need to be had. We expect them. And we’re waiting,�

‘They sent her in there unprepared’

Deborah was appointed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors as constable for Justice Precinct 8 in midtown ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to replace a constable who resigned in March. A constable’s job entails serving legal summons such as eviction notices and protection orders from the justice courts to residents. As elected officials, they’re not required to have any background in enforcement or training before taking on the position.

Deborah served 16 years in the Army and ran the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ chapter of an adaptive golf program for veterans called PGA HOPE.

Her family says Deborah was a “force of nature� and wanted to take on the constable position while continuing her volunteer work with veterans “because she wanted to help people.�

“She would go out and get resources and then she would ask, ‘What can I do for you? You don’t need to worry about being on the street, we got this place, we got food, we got stamps.’ She would go to Walmart to donate gift cards so people could get groceries,� Deborah’s father Joe Martinez said. “And at the same time, she never quit laughing.�

But while she was excited to take on the job, Deborah’s family said after six months as a constable, she still didn’t have the county-issued firearm, Kevlar vest or badge the county issues to constables.

“I feel that they sent her in there unprepared,� said her mother, Margaret Martinez.

Gonzalez said she has a county-issued gun, Taser and vest that she was fitted for, but it took “months� for the equipment to come in. She worked for the constable’s office for 12 years before being elected and trained under former Constable Marge Cummings, who lent Gonzalez an extra vest as she waited for her fitted one to come in.

Deborah’s family says the constable was armed with her personal firearm while waiting for a county-issued one to arrive.

In addition to long wait times for equipment, Gonzalez said the constables’ office also has issues regarding communication with law enforcement. Constables rarely know the nature of the individual they’re serving papers to before they knock on their doors, according to Gonzalez.

Normally, apartment managers will give constables a forewarning about a dangerous tenant, Gonzalez said. But even when a constable asks for help, the responses given can vary. According to Gonzalez, at one meeting the constables attended, an agenda item was listed about “how we need to stop calling so much for backup.�

“There needs to be more communication within the office. … I believe that other law enforcement agencies need to communicate with our office directly because we’re not the peons of the county,� she said. “Our job is, I believe, more dangerous than what these other agencies have to go through because we are directly entering other people’s houses that we don’t know. We’re going in blind.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ law requires newly elected constables to attend a training course within six months of taking on the job. According to Scott Blake, president of the , the training takes place each January after an election. Deborah was appointed to the position in March.

Blake said the association also hosts two 20-hour conferences a year that cover safety protocol for constables including “de-escalation techniques, communication, first aid and officer safety.� Deborah’s family said she attended a conference in Flagstaff a few weeks ago, but it’s unclear what training she may have received.

When asked about the protocol for constables approaching dangerous situations, Scott wrote in an email: “Remember sometimes when knocking on a door we have no idea what is going to happen. However, let’s say tomorrow while I am executing the eviction that I have set up for at 5 PM changes from the tenant being cooperative to a tenant that is threatening with a gun, I would feel my best option is to back out of the house if possible and then to create a safe environment for everyone at that moment. I would then get more resources on that location to resolve the situation as safely as possible.�

It’s unclear if Deborah knew Stansell’s eviction involved threats of firearms.

But according to her family, if Deborah knew the true danger that lay ahead, things would have gone differently.

“She wouldn’t have had that landlord with her. Frankly, she would have been prepared,� said Deborah’s sister Connie Hall. “She would’ve gotten backup.�