PHOENIX (AP) – An ex-con pleaded guilty Friday to killing one person and wounding five others last year during a metro Phoenix rampage that included multiple shootings, a carjacking and a massive manhunt.
Ryan Elliott Giroux changed his plea a little more than a year after his initial court hearing in Phoenix, in a move that likely means he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Giroux pleaded guilty to all 23 charges including first degree murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and other charges stemming from a March 2015 shooting spree in a Phoenix suburb.
In court, he appeared with a clean-shaved head and wore wire-rimmed glasses. Giroux answered the judge’s questions with terse, often single-word answers.
His voice quivered as he answered “correct” when Maricopa Superior Court Judge Margaret Mahoney asked if he understood that he would have to serve greater than the presumptive sentence because of his prior felony convictions, and for being on probation when the shooting spree occurred.
Mahoney said Giroux’s sentence for first degree murder would be natural life without the chance for parole – not including the other 22 charges Giroux is facing – though prosecutors determined last September they would not pursue the death penalty. The sentencing hearing is set for June.
Defense Attorney Stephanie Low said Giroux wanted to take responsibility for his actions.
“He’s been nothing but forthright and honest,” she said.
She added that she never in her career had seen someone come forward and admit to all the charges as he did.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office declined comment.
The crime spree began last March with a multiple shooting inside a motel that left David James Williams, 29, dead and two women wounded. The spree then spilled out into the street where the gunman allegedly shot Isaac Martinez, 20, who was working at a nearby restaurant.
The gunman fled the restaurant, carjacked a school instructor’s car and drove two miles to a nearby apartment complex. There, the gunman went into an apartment and shot Donavon Worker, 24. An officer then found Marcus Butler, 25, in a neighboring apartment building with multiple gunshot wounds.
Police swarmed the city in a massive response. The search ended several hours later with Giroux’s arrest in a vacant apartment.
Giroux has criminal convictions in three states dated back to 1993. He was convicted in metro Phoenix on theft, burglary and marijuana possession charges. He also was convicted for burglary, theft assault and theft in California and for robbery in Washington.
He struggled with drug abuse and at one point got a tattoo on his forehead that read “skinhead.” Ryan Giroux’s probation officer said the ex-con was trying to quit using drugs and turn his life around, but it didn’t last long.