An Arizona Attorney General’s Office investigator charged in the fatal shooting death of his neighbor, Mesa mother Maria Lewis, 32, was expected to enter a not guilty plea at his arraignment in Maricopa County Superior Court.
A grand jury indicted DuLance Morin in September 2026 on one count of negligent homicide after Mesa police found Lewis with a gunshot wound on Morin’s doorstep near Kinetic Drive and Reliance Way in Mesa in the early morning of Feb. 28, according to police. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Morin is due in court for his arraignment on Oct. 8.
The Attorney General's Office said it would stand by Morin in an Oct. 5 statement.
"Mr. Morin remains employed in an administrative position at the Attorney General's Office and will
continue to remain employed in that position unless he is convicted in a court of law," spokesperson Richie Taylor told The Arizona Republic. "Attorney General Mayes believes Mr. Morin is not guilty of this charge and will be found not guilty. Mr. Morin is now entitled to due process as is every individual."
It's not the first time the agency raised doubts as to whether the fatal shooting was a crime.
Internal email suggests shooting was in self-defense
Criminal Division Chief Nicholas Klingerman wrote to Attorney General Kris Mayes and top staff that, based on a police briefing, he was "uncertain" Morin committed a crime, according to an internal email dated March 12, which the agency provided.
Morin told investigators loud banging on his front door awakened him around 2:40 a.m. with multiple people inside the home attesting to hearing the person outside say she was armed, according to the email.
Morin warned the person at the door that he was armed and would fire if someone entered and later described the shooting as an accident, telling police he did not recall how the door opened or having fired the shot, the email said.
Morin's son and daughter told police they heard someone at the door either punching at it or yelling and said that their father warned he would shoot if someone entered and told the person multiple times to go away, according to the email.
Lewis was working as DoorDash driver late on Feb. 27 and into the early morning of Feb. 28 before she returned home between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., according to the email. Her husband told police she smelled like alcohol when she arrived, and the two argued before she left the home, the email said. A neighbor reported hearing yelling between 2:15 a.m. and 2:20 a.m.
At 2:44 a.m., police received reports of an injured person on Morin's doorstep where Lewis was later pronounced dead, Mesa police spokesperson Detective Jesse Macias said.
A rock found near the door contained Lewis' DNA, forensic testing showed stippling around her eye that indicated a close-range shooting, and a bullet casing was found outside the home, according to the email. Morin's gun was a personal 9mm Glock the Attorney General's Office had approved for official use, the email said.
Mesa police recommended that Morin be charged with negligent homicide on March 13, but prosecutors with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office sent the case back with a request for more information. Nearly six months passed before a grand jury indicted Morin on Sept. 10.
He would face between four to eight years in prison if convicted.
Reporter Jose R. Gonzalez contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Attorney General Kris Mayes defends investigator charged in fatal shooting
