Charged with murdering his brother, Juan Figueroa pleads guilty to negligent homicide

For more than a year, Juan Figueroa was charged with murdering his little brother.

On Friday, that changed. Figueroa, 20, pleaded guilty in Yuma County Superior Court to one count of negligent homicide and one count of endangerment, KYMA reported.

His brother, Javier Figueroa, went by Milo. He was 17, weeks from turning 18 and still in high school.

What happened that night

Here's what the public record has said so far.

On Sept. 13, 2025, at about 8 p.m., the brothers were in the same car when they got into a road rage confrontation with a 36-year-old man in another vehicle, police said. It ended in the Starbucks parking lot near Fourth Avenue and Arizona Avenue.

The two sides told police different stories, according to a probable cause statement KYMA obtained at the time. The 36-year-old man said Milo got out of the car and threatened him with a knife, and the two of them fought. Officers found a knife at the scene. Whose it was hasn't been reported.

Juan's account was that the man hit Milo in the face. So Juan hit the man with his car, he told police, and ran over his brother.

Milo died at the hospital. Police questioned the 36-year-old man and released him. Juan, who was 19 then, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

What the plea means

Under Arizona law, negligent homicide means causing someone's death through criminal negligence: failing to see a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a reasonable person would have seen. It does not require intent. That's a long way from the first-degree murder charge, which accused him of intending or knowing his conduct would cause death.

The endangerment count involves recklessly putting someone at substantial risk of death or serious injury. The reporting so far hasn't said who that count refers to.

What isn't public yet: the terms of the plea agreement, what sentence it allows, and why prosecutors agreed to it. Figueroa is due back in court next month, KYMA reported.

A father on both sides

Joseph Figueroa lost one son that night and has spent the year since standing behind the other.

He told KYMA his son "would never purposely do that. I mean, accidents could happen." He said he has filed a motion asking for all the evidence to be retested, and that he has asked the Yuma City Council for an independent review of the case. In October he told Arizona's Family he had asked the state attorney general and others to look at it, too, and that he hadn't been able to hold a proper funeral for Milo because he was spending his money on Juan's defense.

"I'm here to find out how he passed away," he told KYMA on Friday.

Yuma Police Chief Thomas Garrity has defended the investigation. "The police department has put just as much work into it as if it were their own children," he told KYMA. Garrity also addressed claims made online that the 36-year-old man was a police informant. He said the man is not and has never been an informant, paid or otherwise.

The plea settles the criminal charge. For Milo's father, it doesn't settle the question he keeps asking.

Where this comes from

• Man accused of killing his brother in deadly Yuma road rage pleads guilty, KYMA, Nov. 6, 2026. Reporting. Source for the plea, Juan's age, the next court date, Joseph Figueroa's quotes and Chief Garrity's statements.
• Yuma family seeks independent review in road rage case, KYMA, Nov. 6, 2026. Reporting. Source for the father's request to the City Council.
• Father seeks review a year after son killed in Yuma road rage incident, Arizona's Family, Oct. 20, 2026. Reporting. Source for the date and time, the latest indictment's wording, the request to the attorney general and the funeral.
• Teen accused of running over, killing brother during Yuma road rage incident, Arizona's Family, Sept. 16, 2025. Reporting. Source for the location, Juan's age at the time, the original charges and the release of the other driver.
• 36-year-old man claims victim threatened him in Yuma road rage murder case, KYMA, Sept. 19, 2025. Reporting on the probable cause statement. Source for both men's accounts and the knife.
• Father at a loss after son accused of running over, killing brother, Arizona's Family / Gray News, Sept. 16, 2025. Reporting. Source for the nickname Milo, his being weeks from 18 and still in school.
• A.R.S. 13-1102, Negligent homicide, A.R.S. 13-105, Definitions and A.R.S. 13-1201, Endangerment, Arizona Legislature. Source for the legal definitions.