On Jan. 3, 2025, a Phoenix man received a decades-long prison sentence for the 2023 killing of Geoffrey Rugwiro, whose body was found in a burning dumpster near the downtown homeless encampment known as “the Zone.” Dave Dinkins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping and was ordered to serve 42 years in prison after prosecutors said surveillance and other evidence tied him to the March 21, 2023 attack.
Sentence and pleas
Dinkins admitted to second-degree murder and kidnapping and was sentenced to 42 years in prison, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said they moved forward after surveillance and additional evidence linked him to the attack, describing his conduct as showing an “unimaginable level of cruelty.”
Surveillance footage and the scene
According to news reports and court records, surveillance video showed two men loading Rugwiro into a shopping cart and pushing it to a dumpster while a third person set the dumpster on fire. Officers responding to the…..