Mesa Legend - NEWS -Death Kindles family support

Ryan Kennedy Mesa Legend

Antuan Mackins washes a car as part of a drive to raise money for the family of slain MCC student Marco Torres. This carwash at a McDonald’s in Tempe was one of three that were held in the Valley by Torres’ friends.

An argument earlier this month ended in the shooting death of an MCC student, police said.
Mesa police arrested Jason Biggs, 20, on suspicion of shooting 19-year-old Marco Torres Jr. during an argument at Central Christian Church, 933 N Lindsay Rd., said Mesa Police Sgt. Ruben Quesada. Torres had gone to the church with his brother to confront Biggs, Quesada said.
“We believe the conflict concerns a girl,” he said.
Torres, who was a business major at MCC and would have turned 20 on April 27, had dreams of becoming a boxer and, according to friends, also wanted to try his hand at music production.
A friend and co-worker of Torres, Estephana Chavez, said Torres was very dedicated to boxing.
She joked around about his transformation once he discovered boxing. “When I first met him he was kind of chubby, not too bad, but he got really thin after a while. He used to be on a diet and drink a lot of water and eat lots of protein. He would eat tuna fish for breakfast and lunch,” Chavez said.
Chavez said Torres had competed and won a boxing match two days before he was killed.
“It’s just so sad because he was such a nice guy and he was great to people who knew him,” Chavez said.
DPS officers near Yuma arrested Biggs after they spotted his brown 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe.
Friends of Torres held three separate carwashes April 24 around the Valley to help raise funds for the victim’s family.
“I’m not sure how much we will make, but I know anything we can raise will help,” Chavez said.
This was Mesa’s 10th homicide of the year.


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