Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that Gaven Robel, of California, pleaded guilty to 2nd Degree Murder and Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices. Mohave County Judge Billy K. Sipe, Jr. sentenced Robel to an aggravated term of 21 years flat time in the Arizona Department of Corrections, followed by seven years of Supervised Probation with specific terms regarding mental health to begin upon his release.
26-year-old Robel was arrested on October 30, 2017, for his involvement in a Mohave County pill ring, where Robel and six co-defendants used phony prescriptions to fraudulently and collectively acquire thousands of Oxycodone pills over several months in 2015.
While in custody for this offense, on November 20, 2017, Robel attacked and killed his cellmate, 43-year-old Ryan Couch, of Kingman. As Couch lay unconscious on the floor of the shared cell, other inmates observed Robel, who was encouraging the inmates to watch, repeatedly stomp on Couch’s head and neck, before jumping off the top bunk onto Couch’s head.
Couch was transported to Kingman Regional Medical Center before ultimately being air-transported to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Medical staff reported an orbital eye fracture, multiple skull fractures, and brain bleeding. Couch was placed on life support, but eventually died from his injuries on December 3, 2017.
The criminal investigation was conducted by the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.