Tracking Dahseir Jefferson's Tucson murder case status

Status label: reported — pending primary-source verification. Last verified: 2026-08-01 UTC. This is a Risk Digest exceptional non-AI legal-risk status record, not legal advice. As of that verification time, no publicly confirmed Pima County docket number, minute entry, bond order, or charging document was located. The case posture below is therefore sourced to local reporting and Arizona statutory text, not to a verified court docket.

Compact answer: Dahseir Edward Jefferson, 27, is reported to have been arrested July 28 after a July 24 Tucson assault incident and initially booked on two aggravated-assault counts, with bond set at $150,000 and an Aug. 7 appearance reported [1]. After Susan Marie Gehrke, 61, died July 29, KOLD reported that the case was amended to include second-degree murder and that total bond was raised to $650,000 [2]. The statutory labels used here are ARS 13-1104 for second-degree murder and ARS 13-1204(A)(3) for the reported aggravated-assault subsection [3][4].

Those are charge allegations, not adjudicated facts. The important legal movement so far is the reported shift from an assault-only booking posture to an amended case that includes a homicide charge after Gehrke’s death, together with the reported bond increase. Until a docket entry or court order is located, that movement should be cited as reported.

Current proceedings status

The procedural sequence behind the charge and bond change

July 24 is the incident date supported by the local reporting used for this record. KOLD reported that the attack occurred at a midtown Tucson apartment complex near North Alvernon Way and Speedway, where Gehrke and a male victim were punched and fell; the male victim was reported hospitalized in critical condition [1]. KVOA also reported TPD-attributed information that Gehrke died from injuries following the apartment attack [5].

July 28 is the first reported court-status hinge. Jefferson was reported arrested near Speedway and Country Club and booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Complex on two aggravated-assault counts. KOLD reported that a late-Tuesday initial appearance set bond at $150,000 and listed an Aug. 7 next appearance [1]. At that point in the reporting sequence, the case was being described through assault charges, not a homicide charge.

July 29 is the second hinge. After Gehrke died, KOLD reported that Jefferson appeared in court and that the case was amended to include second-degree murder, with two aggravated-assault counts still reported. The same report put total bond at $650,000 [2]. That is why older references to $150,000 and later references to $650,000 should not be flattened into a contradiction. They describe different points in the reported timeline.

What the reported charge labels mean — and what they do not prove

Arizona’s second-degree murder statute, ARS 13-1104, covers causing death without premeditation under listed mental-state theories, including intentional, knowing, or reckless conduct under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life [3]. The reporting reviewed for this record identifies the charge label; it does not supply the charging instrument, the exact statutory theory alleged by prosecutors, or any judicial ruling on proof.

Arizona’s aggravated-assault statute, ARS 13-1204, includes subsection (A)(3), which applies when an assault causes temporary but substantial disfigurement, temporary but substantial loss or impairment of a body organ or part, or a fracture of any body part [4]. Local reporting describes the aggravated-assault counts in connection with temporary but substantial injury; without the complaint or indictment, the precise wording of the filed counts remains unconfirmed.

No sentence exposure calculation is made here. The available material supports the existence of reported charge labels and reported bond amounts. It does not support a reliable enhancement analysis, a prediction of plea posture, or any conclusion that the state can prove the amended charge.

How to re-check the Pima County court record

The docket check should start with the Pima County Clerk of the Superior Court case-records page, then be repeated through Arizona eAccess if the first search does not produce a clear public match [6][7]. A name-only search is not the same thing as docket verification; it is only the start of the search path.

1. Search the Pima County Clerk case-records page for “Dahseir Jefferson” and “Dahseir Edward Jefferson.” If the system permits party-name variants, also check for spelling or spacing variants before treating a no-result search as meaningful.
2. If a matching criminal case appears, record the case number, court, filing date, party name, charge descriptions, event history, bond entries, and next appearance date. The case number is the first item needed before citing the matter as docket-verified.
3. Open any available minute entries or bond-related documents rather than relying only on the search-results summary. A docket event title may not contain the same detail as the underlying order.
4. Repeat the search in Arizona eAccess. If eAccess lists a matching superior-court case or purchasable documents, compare the case number and event dates against the Pima County result before merging the records.
5. If no public match is found, write that no public docket match was located as of the search date and time. Do not write that the case was dismissed, that charges were not filed, or that the Aug. 7 setting changed unless a primary record or reliable later report supports that narrower statement.

For deadline work, the clean citation form should identify the source level: “KOLD reported,” “KVOA reported TPD said,” or “Pima County docket entry dated ___ states.” Those are not interchangeable. The docket entry, once located, should supersede older news shorthand on bond, charge wording, and setting dates.

Prior-record reporting is separate from the current charges

KOLD reported prior-record information for Jefferson, including 2019-case convictions for aggravated assault with a victim bound or restrained and third-degree burglary, a February 2021 five-year sentence, and an October 2024 release [2]. Those facts, as reported, may be relevant background for a courtroom risk assessment. They do not establish the truth of the current allegations.

The same caution applies more strongly to the reported January 2020 Park Place Mall arrest involving allegations of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault of a minor, and assault of an officer. The disposition of that arrest was not verified in the materials reviewed for this record. It should not be treated as a conviction, and it should not be used to infer sentencing consequences in the current case without the underlying docket and a current Arizona sentencing analysis.

Present boundary of knowledge

As of Aug. 1, 2026, the defensible status is narrow: Jefferson is reported to face an amended Pima County case that includes second-degree murder and two aggravated-assault counts; total bond is reported at $650,000; and an Aug. 7 appearance is reported as pending. The reported legal significance lies in the July 29 charge escalation after Gehrke’s death and the corresponding bond increase.

The missing item is still central. Without a publicly confirmed docket number, minute entry, charging document, or bond order, this record remains reported pending primary-source verification.

References

1. Woman critical, suspect arrested following Pima County assault — KOLD, July 29, 2026.
2. Woman dies following brutal attack at Tucson apartment complex — KOLD, July 31, 2026.
3. 13-1104. Second degree murder; classification — Arizona Legislature.
4. 13-1204. Aggravated assault; classification; definition — Arizona Legislature.
5. Tucson woman dies from injuries following attack at apartment, TPD says — KVOA, July 29–30, 2026.
6. Case Records — Pima County Clerk of the Superior Court.
7. Arizona eAccess — Arizona Judicial Branch.