Troubling circumstances revealed surrounding woman found shot to death at Phoenix hotel

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A murder mystery is unfolding in downtown Phoenix after a woman was found dead in the Renaissance hotel.

It happened in the early morning hours of July 5.

Now that we know the victim’s identity as 28-year-old Desiree Serpas, one of her coworkers told us how they found out about it at work and what bothers her most about the case.

Just hours after the Fourth of July festivities ended, Serpas was found shot to death inside a hotel room at the ritzy hotel.

“For her to be alone in a hotel room like that, she was obviously trying to get away from something or someone and I think it came to her,” said her former manager, Jessie DuBoce.

DuBoce was Serpas’ manager for a year at a Bank of America branch in Gilbert.

She described Serpas as an incredible employee. She was reliable, responsible, and caring, and a devoted mother to her young children.

DuBoce said Serpas had transferred to another BofA branch several months ago and that the manager called her after Serpas suddenly stopped showing up for work.

“I guess she had been absent for about three days, and again, not like her at all, so everybody kind of raised suspicion,” DuBoce said.

It was worse than expected.

Phoenix Police said on July 5, a security guard found Serpas killed just before 3:30 in the morning.

DuBoce said often Serpas would find cost-effective staycations or activities with her kids, so being in an upscale hotel alone, miles away from where she lived, made no sense to DuBoce at all.

“I’m not sure why she would have been down there,” DuBoce said. “She was always very frugal and things she did with her kids she tried to make it affordable for them and not go over budget, so yeah, it’s a very strange place for her to be.”

Phoenix Police have been tight-lipped about what they said is an unusual homicide investigation and won’t say if they’ve identified any suspects but did reveal they have video.

“It is a large hotel, especially in a very populated area of the city, so there is surveillance footage that’s been captured and it’s being reviewed,” said Phoenix Police Sgt. Phil Krynsky. “Anytime you find an individual deceased inside a hotel room and we don’t have anybody in custody, yeah, it’s definitely unique.”

As for DuBoce, she wants people to know who Serpas was and hopes an arrest is imminent and justice for her kids and family is swift.

“For them to not have their mom now is awful,” DuBoce said. “Just no answers. And that’s really hard.”

Anyone with information regarding the shooting death of Serpas is asked to call Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377) or 480-TESTIGO (480-837-8446) for Spanish speakers.

You can also leave a tip at https://silentwitness.org/.

Anyone who would like to make a donation to Serpas’ family can use this GoFundMe link.

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