Police released new details Tuesday on the men responsible for the death of an ASU student as the victim’s father waits for a response to his national plea for the shooter to come forward.
The Tempe Police Department on Tuesday released a revised description of the two suspects wanted in connection with 21-year-old Zachary Marco’s death.
Marco, a political science junior, was walking to his apartment around 9:30 p.m. Oct. 17 when he was shot and killed in an apparent robbery attempt on the 1100 block of East University Drive, Tempe Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Carbajal said.
The shooter is described as a black male in his early 20s, around 6 feet tall with a thin build and short haircut. Police reported the man was wearing a white T-shirt, blue shorts and a red bandana on his head during the crime.
The other is described as a black male around 25 years old, 5 foot 9 inches tall with a medium build, and was wearing a dark-colored T-shirt at the time of the crime, according to police.
The two men fled the scene in a newer-model, dark-colored, small, four-door sedan, police reported.
Carbajal said police are seeking the assistance of the public in their search for the suspect, and are investigating the incident as a homicide.
“Tempe Police detectives are following up on information provided at the scene regarding two black males who may have been involved in the incident and fled the scene prior to police arrival,” Carbajal said in a press release.
On Friday, Dan Marco, Zachary Marco’s father, pleaded for the accomplice of his son’s killer to come forward.
In a segment on CBS’s “The Early Show” Friday morning, Dan Marco said he would do his best to make sure that if the accomplice came forward in revealing the gunman’s identity, Marco would help provide the best legal defense possible to ensure a plea deal that “allows him to see the light of day again.”
“I want the kid that killed my son,” Marco said. “And I realize there’s a tandem there, but I also realize one pulled the trigger — and I want that guy.”
Tempe Police Lt. Vince Boerbon said police were in the apartment complex all night Oct. 17 trying to gather clues leading to an arrest.
On the following day, officers from the Tempe Police Department, along with 10 to 12 volunteers from Tempe Police and the ASU Police Department canvassed apartment complexes in the area, informing residents of the crime and seeking out any additional information residents may have had.
Less than a week later, the individuals involved have not been apprehended, which led to Marco’s televised plea.
“I know that the Tempe Police Department is doing their best,” Marco said on the show. “They have 12 detectives working on numerous leads. The inevitability of their capture is certain, however, I would like to speed it up.”
Zachary Marco’s funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Central Christian Church, at 933 N. Lindsay Road in Mesa.
Tempe Police urge anyone with information to call the Tempe Police Department at 480-350-8311 or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377).
Reach the reporter at mhendley@asu.edu
