Naman Shrestha
Dernell Stenson was a promising baseball talent with a bright sporting future ahead of him. While playing in the Arizona Fall League, the Cincinnati Reds player met his sudden and tragic demise in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Arizona, in late 2003. It stunned the entire baseball community and left a void in the hearts of his family and friends. As the detectives dug deeper into the circumstances surrounding his death, they linked multiple perpetrators to the crime. Investigation Discovery’s ‘Game Day Murders: A Future Cut Short’ provides a detailed account of the entire case and the investigation that ensued, through insightful interviews with Dernell’s loved ones and the officials who solved the case.
Dernell Stenson Was Found Dead in a Phoenix Suburb
On June 17, 1978, in LaGrange, Georgia, James and Cora Stenson welcomed Dernell Renauld Stenson into the world as a little bundle of joy, making him the youngest of their eight children. While studying at LaGrange High School, he left his mark not only on the academic front but also on the baseball field, earning accolades such as the 1994 Granger Most Valuable Player, the 1996 Duncan Award, the 1996 Most Valuable Player in the IP Baseball Classic, and more. His baseball talent caught the eye of the big leagues, earning him the 91st overall pick in the 1996 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.
A few years later, Dernell signed with the Cincinnati Reds for the 2003 season and made his debut on August 13, 2003. After giving impressive performances for the Reds, he was called up to represent the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League (AFL). Unfortunately, his professional baseball career and his life were cut short in late 2003. In the early hours of November 5, 2003, around 1:45 am, the police received a 911 call regarding gunshots in a residential area in Chandler, Arizona.
Upon reaching the site, the authorities found Dernell’s remains on the street. 25-year-old Dernell was bound and shot in the head and chest. The detectives also noticed injuries that indicated that he had also been run over by a vehicle. His own SUV, a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo, was nowhere to be found. For the next two days, the AFL suspended play, and in 2004, the league established the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award in his honor. Moreover, his jersey number, 26, was posthumously retired by the Lookouts.
Dernell Stenson’s Perpetrators Were Apprehended Within a Few Days
At about 3:45 am, within the next two hours, the Mesa police located a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo matching the description of Dernell Stenson’s missing vehicle approximately 10 miles away from the crime scene. After confirming that it belonged to Dernell, the authorities took the driver, Kevin G. Riddle, into custody for possession of stolen property. The following day, the detectives tied Kevin’s half-brother, Reginald Riddle, to the homicide and took him into custody. By the following two days, the other two suspects, David Griffith and Robert Lee Maye, were taken into custody. The latter was charged with hindering prosecution in the case.
David and Reginald were both charged with a total of six felonies, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery. Meanwhile, Kevin was charged with automotive theft and hindering prosecution. Later, the charges against Robert were dropped as he was in the federal witness protection program. According to investigative reports, Reginald and David kidnapped Dernell Stenson after he left a Scottsdale nightclub in the early hours of November 5, 2003. They stole his SUV and drove with him to Chandler, where he was shot multiple times after trying to escape. The abductors also ran him over with his own car before fleeing the scene.
Reginald Riddle and David Griffith Are Serving Time at Separate Arizona Prisons
In 2006, Reginald Riddle pleaded guilty to first-degree murder of Dernell Stenson in order to avoid a possible death penalty. His half-brother, Kevin Riddle, also pleaded guilty to the charges of auto theft, hindering prosecution, and attempted hindering prosecution. Thus, he was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for his involvement in the crime. In December 2007, David Griffith, who also faced a death sentence, pleaded guilty to murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping.
He received a life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole. As for Reginald, on January 25, 2008, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 25 years. As of today, 42-year-old Reginald is serving his sentence at the Tonto Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex – Safford in Safford, Arizona, while 43-year-old David is incarcerated at the Rast Unit of the Arizona Prison Complex — Lewis in Buckeye, Arizona.
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