Originally Posted by InLovingMemoryTimRoyce
I am writing this post in hopes to reach those of you thinking about moving to Tucson, AZ. I am not trying to discourage that decision, but I do hope that you will heed what I have to say and consider it – especially if you are moving here with children
was born and raised on the northwest side of Phoenix, AZ. I lived on a main street, and around the corner from a police station. The sound of the sirens became as commonplace as it is in any other big city. My house was broken into, gunshots were rarer than you would expect, but there was still a fair share of crime. When you grow up around it, it seems to just become a part of your life. I accepted it at a young age and moved on. I knew that crime happened everywhere…and Phoenix was a relatively safe place to live compared to other places in the U.S.
Back in the fall of 2004, I moved to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona. With a full academic scholarship and some extra money for spending, I lived on campus and decided not to work. I felt like I was in my own secluded bubble. This was the first time I was away from home – really on my own. I felt safe, and only heard of the occasional attempted rapes on campus, but I didn’t go out at night alone. I didn’t read much other than the UofA newspaper, and I didn’t watch much of the news. I kept up with politics, but that was the extent of my local/national knowledge. I never had any issues while living on campus that first year. I think that blinded me to what was outside of the campus, but it happens to the best of us.
After my freshman year, I moved out into a student rental home with 5 others. We had a decent 5 bedroom house within a 10-15 minute walk from my classes. We lived just north of Speedway…which some of you may have heard is the main drag in town, especially for anyone connected to the University. Not long after living there, we had cops swarming around and blocking off the surrounding areas. Turns out a murder suspect was trying to outrun the cops, crashed into a pole less than a block away from my home, tried to run through an alley, and somehow shot and killed himself by accident. Strange – yes. Did I feel unsafe? Slightly. Anything else happen after that? No.
For the beginning of my junior year, I was accepted for a study abroad program in Spain. I packed up and moved to Alcala de Henares, just outside of Madrid, for 5 months. That being the first time I left the country, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was warned about pickpockets, but really nothing else. After just a short time, I came to realize – and experience first-hand – that threat. I also came to realize that I was comfortable walking alone at any time without threat. I never heard news reports about murder or the like. Five months both in Spain and travelling solo around Europe, never once walking with a knife in my hand in fear of my life. Constantly walking alone through unknown streets actually convinced of my safety for the first time in my life…still aware, but not needing to look over my shoulder with every step.
Coming home from Spain, I felt refreshed and filled with a new sense of self. I was able to sort out a lot of my own issues and revise what I wanted from my life over there. I discarded my pre-med minor and pursued my love for learning foreign languages and cultures. I had seen enough carnage in my life…I worked in a hospital for a while in several different areas. I had assisted in a burn unit and a trauma room. I knew how unfair life could be. I wanted to focus on the serenity and love of life I found in Europe and not on the carnage I had become numb to in the past. I moved into a house with a friend on the south side of Tucson. It was a brand new development – very nice – and we both looked forward to a new experience. After a while I realized that I needed to be on my own, especially after an incident with murder in our community.
I moved into an apartment in central Tucson…near First and Prince. The price was relatively low, and it is a quiet, gated complex. I found a new job at Safehouse, a local coffee shop where I had been a loyal customer over the years. It is located near Speedway and Alvernon. On any given night, you can expect to see more than one police car speed by with sirens and lights going. I sit there and count them on a regular basis…3, 5, 13 even, in one night.
A few months into my lease, I met my neighbor that lived 3 apartments down from me. We quickly realized our immediate and undeniable connection, and we fell in love – the kind of love neither of us ever thought existed. It was that once in a lifetime love that most people never find. We never fought, and instantly became part of a huge family of friends that saw and encouraged how we completed each other and bettered each other in every way. He had just graduated with his associate’s degree in business in December 2007, and was looking for a new job. He drove a cab at night to put himself through school. It paid the bills, and he loved the interaction with people, but he wanted a more reliable income. Three months after we met, we found out that I was pregnant, and this made his job search ever more important to him. He was excited to be a father and actively involved in being at every doctor’s appointments with me. We moved into a new 2-bedroom apartment together on March 1, 2008 in the same complex. We celebrated his 27th birthday on March 3 by going to a concert with a great group of friends. He was a happy man and was looking forward to the great new life we had started together. We were planning on getting married later this year. On March 5, 2008 Tim Royce, my fiancé, was robbed and murdered while driving his cab. It happened a block north of Speedway, in central Tucson. He was shot and killed, his body left in an alley. It was a normal pickup…2 women and a man. He didn’t see anything sketchy about the call otherwise he wouldn’t have taken it. I can only assume they didn’t ask for his money, because he would have given them everything he had. These 3 people are in jail pending trial, and they are all charged with first degree murder, aggravated robbery, and armed robbery. They left his unborn child without the man who would have been an amazing father, his friends without a great friend who would do anything for anyone, his family without a son/brother/nephew/cousin/grandson, and me without the man I was going to spend the rest of my life growing old with. It has left the community in disarray and shock. Granted, the community is doing more than I ever expected to help out in this tragedy, but this shouldn’t be how the community comes together.
Tim was the 17th homicide in Tucson since January 1, 2008. Since his murder, the number has escalated to over 20. I don’t know what’s going on in this town so far this year, but I have never felt so unsafe. Several pedestrians were murdered in February for just walking down the street. In my opinion, this would not be my idea of a place to live if I was in your shoes. But then again, I don’t see anyone on this forum letting you know about the murders and people still missing so far in 2008. I’m not looking for sympathy or pity. I know my life will never be the same. I know this child’s life will be difficult. But if I can save another family from going through planning their child/sibling/spouse/father’s funeral and seeing their body lowered into a grave, then Tim’s murder was not in vein. Please, reconsider your options.
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03-28-2008, 12:17 PM
Single Mother in Tucson
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