Mesa spree shooter sentenced to life

A little more than a year after fatally shooting a man and injuring five others during a west Mesa crime spree, Ryan Giroux was sentenced Friday to life in prison. His sentence will be for the rest of his natural life plus 831⁄2 years.

In April, Giroux, 42, pleaded guilty to 23 charges stemming from the deadly 30-minute March 18, 2015, shooting. All felonies, the charges include first-degree murder, attempted murder, eight counts of aggravated assault, kidnapping, armed robbery and burglary.

Giroux will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of release for the first-degree-murder charge alone. All of the other sentences will be in addition to that first charge.

With convictions in Arizona, California and Washington stretching back decades, the 42-year-old has been previously convicted for drug possession, theft and aggravated assault. He was on probation for a 2007 conviction at the time of the deadly spree.

Giroux fatally shot David Williams and injured Williams’ mother, Lydia Nielson, at the Tri-City Inn. He then embarked on a half-hour crime spree that terrorized west Mesa as he opened fire at a restaurant and then later at two apartment complexes while searching for a getaway vehicle.

At one complex, Giroux forced his way into an apartment and shot a 24year-old man in the shoulder when he could not find car keys. Giroux then fled on foot to another complex, where he stole a vehicle and repeatedly shot a worker before breaking into a vacant unit at a nearby condominium complex near Longmore Street and Emelita Avenue.