Pregnant teen fatally shot in AZ, cops say. Baby’s 36-year-old father arrested
A pregnant teen was shot to death in Arizona, and now two people have been arrested in her killing, including the much-older father of her unborn child, police said.
The baby’s 36-year-old father was booked into jail on suspicion of sexual misconduct with a minor and murder, the Phoenix Police Department said in a news release updated Aug. 1.
An 18-year-old also was booked on suspicion of murder, police said.
McClatchy News isn’t naming them pending formal charges being filed.
Zariah Finley Dodd, 16, was found shot at about 6 a.m. July 5 in the area of Marivue Park in Phoenix, according to police. She was 22 weeks pregnant with a baby girl and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Since then, “detectives have tirelessly worked this case,” according to police, adding that “the investigation established that (the 36-year-old) was the father (of) Zariah’s unborn child” and “the two suspects conspired to commit and carried out the homicide.”
Dodd was living in a group home, The Arizona Republic reported, and she’d picked out the name Zaloni for her daughter.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 11:40 AM.
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