Police arrest a second suspect in a triple homicide and fire at a southeast Phoenix apartment

PHOENIX (AP) — A second suspect has been arrested in connection with a triple homicide case in the southeast Phoenix community of Ahwatukee, authorities said Wednesday.

Phoenix police said a woman and two men were found dead on July 15 inside an apartment after an early morning fire that appeared to have been deliberately set.

Dorian Rice, 53, was arrested Tuesday and has been booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree felony murder and armed robbery, police said. He did not immediately have a lawyer for his case.

Last Friday, Chase Christman, 30, was arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder and one count of misconduct involving weapons in the case, according to police. His bond has been set at $5 million.

Christman is awaiting his initial court appearance, and messages were left Wednesday seeking comment from the public defender representing Christman.

A Phoenix police spokesman, Sgt. Robert Scherer, said Wednesday that Rice has “admitted to driving Christman to the residence to commit a planned robbery of the victims.” He also said Rice admitted to driving Christman from the scene after the killings.

The dead were identified as Merissa Honeycutt, 27; Anthony Frederickson-Ceccarelli, 25; and Samuel Lott, 37. Their bodies were found inside a second-floor bedroom of the three-level apartment complex in Ahwatukee, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) southeast of Phoenix.

Authorities said all three had obvious signs of trauma unrelated to the fire, which police believe was set to cover up the killings. Officials haven’t immediately released a cause of death for the victims.