Christian Diaz subdued a home intruder on Jan. 26 only to be shot and killed by Phoenix Police once officers arrived at the scene. Now, his family is demanding justice.
When his family called the police to report a home intruder, Jarvis Rosas Gonzalez had no idea it would end in the burial of his beloved stepfather, Christian Diaz, whom he considered a father.
At around 6 p.m. on Jan. 26, an intruder broke into the family home armed with a weapon. The intruder, who the family said was the adult son of their landlord, fired his gun, shooting Jarvis’ brother in the ankle before he was subdued and disarmed by Diaz.
Believing they had the situation under control, Jarvis’ family called local police to arrest the intruder and get help for his brother, who was bleeding out after being shot.
Jarvis, who’s 21 years old, was not present at the time, but relayed his distraught family’s account of the incident in an interview with The Copper Courier. Jarvis’ mother and his two brothers told him how officers arrived and opened fire through the open door, striking Diaz in the jaw.
According to Jarvis, the officers did this even though his mother, Mariana Gonzalez, who was engaged to Diaz, explicitly told them who he was and who the intruder was, and that the intruder was pinned to the floor.
“My mother and my little brother came out saying, ‘hey, [the] guy’s on the floor, gun’s out of the hand. There’s no need to come with guns, there’s no need for violence, please don’t shoot.’ First thing a police officer does is point straight through the open door, fire, and it hits my father in the jaw,” Jarvis said.
The impact of the bullet threw Diaz backwards. He managed to crawl towards Gonzalez while bleeding out, before taking his final breath in the family’s living room, Jarvis said, relaying his family’s account of the incident.
The Phoenix Police Department has not confirmed whether it was the officer’s bullet that killed Diaz.
In a statement, Phoenix Police said officers approached the house and were met with people outside, including people yelling that children were being shot.
“The officer approached the open front door and reported seeing a struggle. This is when the officer-involved shooting took place,” the statement said.
The spokesperson added that the Department of Public Safety’s Major Incident Division is investigating the incident.
But Jarvis criticized Phoenix PD’s statement for failing to mention that his mother and brother told officers beforehand that the intruder had been disarmed and was already pinned to the ground. Jarvis believes that despite being told otherwise, the officer mistook Diaz as the intruder himself and recklessly fired his gun.
“I believe he didn’t know who was who, but more importantly didn’t care to learn. While we tried to tell him who was who, he still took aim and fired, and shrugged when my mom cried out that he shot the wrong man,” Jarvis said in a follow-up text.
It was a fatal decision that has changed the family’s life forever.
“This could happen to friends, to families, the people who we know, to our neighbors,” Jarvis said. “You call the police, there’s a good chance that they might do the same to you.”
To add insult to injury, Phoenix PD left Diaz’s lifeless body in the home overnight, according to Jarvis.
“They were just leaving him on the floor like a dog, letting him sit there in a puddle of his blood for 16 hours,” Jarvis said.
When they finally brought him out of the house, Gonzalez broke down.
“She ran through the police tape. She tried hugging the body, and the police had to force her off. She was screaming, ‘That’s my husband. That’s the love of my life. That’s the person that I trust in the world. Don’t take me away from him. Don’t make me leave him. I do not want to leave his side,’” Jarvis said.
A family man taken from his family
Originally from Mexico, Diaz came to the US in 2010 in pursuit of a better life, working landscaping jobs in Phoenix before starting his own landscaping business, Diaz Landscaping Company, in 2018, according to Jarvis.
In 2013, he met Gonzalez and the two fell for each other quickly. They welcomed their first and only child together, Bonnie Diaz, into the world in 2017.
Diaz was a family man through and through, Jarvis said. He took care of Gonzalez’s children from her previous marriages, even caring for her grandchildren. He also made sure to support his mother back home in Mexico, sending her money every month to help her afford her expenses.
The birth of Bonnie, whom Diaz nicknamed “princess,” was “one of [the] greatest moments” of his life, Jarvis said.
“It made him the happiest, and he made my little sister his world.”
Diaz worked day and night to make ends meet for his family, often working 16 hour days if it meant keeping everyone fed, according to Jarvis. When he wasn’t working, he helped his neighbors by planting trees and installing sprinklers, and more. He always made himself readily available to his community, Jarvis said.
“He was that kind of neighbor where if your car broke down and you didn’t know what to do, you’d go to him. He was selfless,” Jarvis said. “He was that kind of person who wanted to make sure everyone had a good laugh and had a good time. All of his neighbors have only good things to say. Every single person from the community loves him.”
Phoenix PD’s troubling history
Phoenix Police have a long and concerning history of aggression, consistently ranking among the deadliest law enforcement agencies in the nation. The department killed 11 people in 2025 and 14 people in 2024.
In 2021, the Phoenix Police Department was singled out by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), prompting a three-year-long investigation into their tactics. In 2024, the DOJ concluded that the department had a pattern of routinely using excess force, violating civil rights, and discriminating against people of color.
When his family called the police, they did so with the belief that officers would help, Jarvis said.
Jarvis believes the intruder was exhibiting clear signs of mental illness and needed help. Instead of help, the intruder was met with trigger-happy police officers who killed Jarvis’ father in front of their eyes.
“There are plenty of people with mental illnesses that need to be taken care of. They need structure and support,” Jarvis said. “We had it under control. We managed everything. When the police got here, all they had to do was detain one person. They didn’t have to fire. There’s one casualty that happened that day, and it was because of a police officer.”
Jarvis said his family wants the officer to face real accountability in the form of charges.
“We want that officer out. We don’t want them free. We don’t want them to just say ‘sorry.’ Sorry doesn’t help, sorry doesn’t fix it,” Jarvis said. “We want them to take accountability. We want them to own up to their mistake, and we want them behind bars so that this doesn’t happen to somebody else.”
A family’s grief
It’s hard for the family not to blame themselves, Jarvis said.
Jarvis’ mother wishes she acted faster, his brother wishes he never called the police, and Jarvis is haunted by the fact that his last conversation with Diaz was an argument. He can hardly recall what it was even about.
“We were fighting. I don’t remember why, [and] that frustrates me a lot. I thought I was going to be able to apologize to him later, make amends and fix things up. I didn’t know I was never gonna get a chance to say sorry. I didn’t know that that was gonna be my last interaction with him.”
In Diaz’s absence, the family has struggled to adapt to what feels like an empty and lonely house. Gonzalez is taking things the hardest, Jarvis said. She and Diaz were planning on getting married. Instead, she has to trade in wedding planning for funeral planning.
Diaz was her partner, the breadwinner, the father of her daughter, and the love of her life. Jarvis said Gonzalez has struggled to eat, shower, rest, and even change into new clothing. Bonnie, now 7, is also taking it especially hard, according to Jarvis.
“That was her Superman. She looked up to him every single day. She’d follow him everywhere,” Jarvis said.
The family is struggling to help the younger children understand why the family’s patriarch will never come home again.
“No matter how much we hear all the kids running and screaming, it still feels quiet. We don’t have him telling the kids to be careful around the tables and not bump into each other. It’s still quiet because we don’t have him to make witty jokes and be sarcastic,” Jarvis said. “He gave us all nicknames, and now we won’t hear that.”
Jarvis said his older siblings will likely have to give up their goal of attending college and instead pick up jobs to help support the family in Diaz’s absence.
Jarvis is adamant about getting justice for his family. Nothing will bring their beloved dad back, but at the very least, they’d like to see the officer held responsible for the death of their father, and for this to never happen to any family ever again.
“Once he [the officer] gets behind bars, we will forgive him. Once he takes responsibility for his actions and serves time, we will forgive him. We don’t harbor hate in our hearts. We’re not hateful people. We’re not spiteful people. We want to forgive but first, we [need] justice.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe to assist with funeral costs.
