About a week before the body of Joann Rotz was found in a dirt lot on Lemon Street near Apache Boulevard, Rachel Hall said she argued with the homeless woman over not sleeping in her campsite area near Escalante Park.
Hall, who said she had known Rotz since March, said that Rotz got in her face and told her that she was going to kill her in her sleep. And Hall said she replied, "I hope you die in a field somewhere."
Now, Hall, 29, said she regrets saying that and feels bad for Rotz, a 37-year-old woman who police said was known to be homeless and transient and whose friends described as someone who would "give you the shirt off her back."
Rotz also would bring her friends a plate of food from the gazebo at Escalante Park where churches serve lunches to homeless people resting nearby on blankets amid their meager belongings, including some pet dogs on leashes scattered under trees.
Police discovered Rotz’s body in a dirt lot between two businesses in the 1100 block of Lemon Street, near Rural Road, on Nov. 21, and said there were visible signs of trauma to her upper body.
The cause of Rotz’s death was a gunshot wound to the head, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office told the Tribune on Friday.
The woman’s death has left the city’s homeless community shocked and police looking for answers in connection to her death.
Police are investigating Rotz’s death as a homicide and are seeking the public’s help in providing leads or information in connection to her death.
A woman who answered the phone at the medical examiner’s office said that Rotz’s next of kin, a son, has been contacted and informed of his mother’s death.
"She was my friend," said Hall, who has been homeless since late February and is having trouble getting Social Security and medical help for her systemic lupus condition. "I regret saying that to her, because that’s what happened. I was shocked. She would say things that would get under peoples’ skin, but nobody deserves to die like that. I feel bad for saying what I did, because that’s what happened. When she wasn’t having one of her out-of-this-world experiences, she had a good heart."
"It’s not the fights you get in, but how you get over them that defines a friendship," Hall added as she was putting the finishing touches on a wooden box as part of a memorial for Rotz.
Hall’s friend, Brian Lartham, 32, who said he had known Rotz for about eight years, since she was homeless in Phoenix, also became aware that Rotz recently had an apartment in Tempe and that she had been trying to get some people living there with her to move out.
Police said that Rotz had an outstanding warrant for her arrest at the time of her death. According to Tempe Municipal Court records, she was arrested and booked into the Tempe City Jail for criminal trespass on Nov. 1, and was released the next day. Rotz was scheduled to appear for a hearing on the trespassing charge on Nov. 19, but did not show up, resulting in the warrant being issued for her arrest, according to a clerk for Tempe Municipal Court.
Hall and other members of the homeless community said that they were not aware Rotz had a son, but said they had heard that she had a granddaughter. They described Rotz as a quiet person when she wasn’t arguing with others.
Hall and Lartham said that Rotz told them that she was abducted and held captive in a basement when she was 15, and that’s why she had mental problems. However, they weren’t sure if that was true.
Of the handful of people who knew Rotz, they said they would like to see the person who killed her caught and served justice.
"I would like to meet the mother (expletive) who did this," said a silver-haired bearded homeless man who said his name was Redman as he was riding his bicycle along River Street. "I don’t know anyone who would do anything that bad. If I found out, I’d hurt them. People can get mad over a lot of things, but I’d never get mad enough to do what they did to Joann."
Tempe police are asking for anyone with information regarding Rotz’s death to contact them at (480) 350-8311 or Silent Witness at (480) 948-6377. Authorities are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading arrest and indictment of the suspect.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
Neal posted at 7:13 pm on Thu, Jan 3, 2013.
That was my sister, juggernaut. Safely behind a computer you sit, boy.
Neal posted at 7:07 pm on Thu, Jan 3, 2013.
That's my sister, Juggernaut. Easy to talk like you do when safely behind a computer. It will be a lovely day when people like you die out.
Juggernaut8000 posted at 1:14 pm on Mon, Dec 3, 2012.
Here go the bleeding heart liberals again...nagging the government to take care of someone with tax dollars because they are too lazy or stupid take care of themselves.
You liberals should use money out of your own pocket to care for all the welfare cases you want taxes to pay for and see how long you are a foolish liberal.
VofReason posted at 12:44 pm on Mon, Dec 3, 2012.
I am sad for this woman. Sad that she was brutally killed. Sad that she was abandoned by her family and left to live on the street and fend for herself. The government will never be able to shelter people who live on the street. President Obama has spent a lot of money trying, but yet this occured. People need to take care of their own first. One poster here is correct, she was likely a mother, certainly a duaghter of someone. Where were they fo the last 8 years or more that this woman was noted to have been homeless?
Whatif posted at 9:16 pm on Sun, Dec 2, 2012.
Actually, it was probably another liberal democrat not taking personal responsibility for their lot in life and most likely blamed this poor woman's skin color for their problems. Makes one wonder at what point in a person's life does a person become responsible for their OWN lot in life. This is typical of B.O. supporters: they turn responsibility for themselves over to the government and wonder where their rights go and then blame their problems on someone else, again. It's time people took some personal responsibility and a little pride in their efforts instead of asking for government to fix their own personal dumb choices in life. Give up responsibility for yourself, and you will give up your rights to yourself, too. Wow, MWMIKE needs to click his heels and salute because he is sounding a lot like a Nazi and would have likely gased her with a new health care plan. Personally, it doesn't matter what party she was with. She was a human being who needed help. Make the world a better place, starting with yourself.
Sandy010 posted at 8:36 pm on Sun, Dec 2, 2012.
Well, I'm new to this blog so I don't know if you're just a troll or what, Juggernaut, but wow! I shouldn't be shocked that people say things like that, but I still am. When we've all lost the ability to feel compassion & empathy for another human being, we are truly doomed. I know I'm wasting my time saying these things to you, but I just can't let it go...she was a human. She was someone's mother. There are no services, no help for mentally ill people like there used to be in this country. God help you if/when someday you find yourself in need of help, and there is none.
Juggernaut8000 posted at 2:54 pm on Sun, Dec 2, 2012.
One less vagrant on the streets the better.
mwmike posted at 10:48 am on Sun, Dec 2, 2012.
My bet would be on one of the Romney 1%ers and tea-publican wannabes who hate the poor and less fortunate among us.