Preston Alton Strong

Preston Alton Strong was born in June 1966, reportedly in or near Washington, D.C. He graduated from McKinley Technical High School in 1985, where he played as a tight end on the varsity football team. Little else is publicly documented about his early life. After relocating to Arizona, Strong worked at a car dealership in the Yuma area but developed a reputation among law enforcement as a habitual con artist. Prior to being linked to murder cases, Strong had multiple convictions in Arizona for theft, forgery, and fraud.

On June 24, 2005, the Yuma Police Department responded to a report of gunshots and screams at a residence located at 2037 La Mesa Street. Upon arrival, officers discovered 35-year-old Luis Rios in the backyard, critically injured by multiple gunshot wounds. He died shortly afterward at a nearby hospital. Fearing a hostage situation, police cautiously entered the home and found five more victims inside, including four children. The victims were identified as Adrienne Heredia, 29, her two children, 6-year-old Danny Heredia III and 9-year-old Inez Newman, and two boys staying in the home, 13-year-old Andreas Crawford and 12-year-old Enrique Bedoya. Adrienne and the three youngest children had been asphyxiated, while Danny and Luis Rios were shot.

In the years following the murders, authorities received thousands of tips and conducted over 1,300 interviews. Despite early leads, the case remained unsolved until November 28, 2007, when Preston Strong was publicly identified as a suspect. At that time, Strong was already in custody for unrelated fraud charges. Prosecutors later alleged that Strong committed the killings because Rios, who had once been a friend, had cut off financial support. Strong was officially charged with six counts of first-degree murder in 2014. After a lengthy legal process, he was convicted on April 25, 2017, and sentenced to death.

While awaiting trial for the La Mesa murders, Strong was also prosecuted for the unrelated 2007 murder of 62-year-old Dr. Satinder Gill. Gill was found deceased in his home on November 2, 2007, with his head submerged in a water-filled bathtub. Evidence of blunt force trauma and suffocation was present, and the home had been tampered with—filled with natural gas and lit candles, suggesting an attempted arson. Approximately $24,000 in cash that had been delivered to Gill the day before his death was missing. Surveillance footage from a local Walmart showed Strong attempting to purchase a large money order on the same day. When asked for identification, he opted to buy smaller denominations to avoid providing ID. That same day, Strong’s girlfriend received $9,500 in cash from him, which raised suspicions, as Strong had previously relied on her financial support.

Strong was arrested for the Gill murder and unrelated fraud charges on the same day Gill’s body was discovered. He was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Additional charges for robbery, kidnapping, burglary, aggravated assault, and attempted arson resulted in a combined sentence of over 25 years. While serving this sentence, he was formally charged and later convicted for the La Mesa killings.

Strong has continued to maintain his innocence and appeal both convictions, accusing law enforcement of misconduct. In September 2024, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld his death sentence in the La Mesa case. As of the most recent update, Preston Strong remains on death row in Arizona.