Public Safety · Gilbert, AZ
Vincent Fiordilino, an 18-month-old boy pronounced dead at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center on Feb. 8 after a near-drowning, was found alive in the hospital morgue five hours later. The family's attorney alleges a lapse in care, citing documents showing a doctor canceled a blood gas test that could have confirmed oxygen levels before the death pronouncement. Gilbert Police are asking the Arizona Attorney General to review the case for potential felony child abuse charges against the attending physician.
Local Politics · Phoenix, AZ
Voting rights organizations and election officials across Arizona are preparing for the possibility of federal immigration agents appearing near or at polling places in November elections, despite DHS stating ICE does not plan to patrol polls. LUCHA trained hundreds of poll observers in metro Phoenix after documenting verified reports of ICE activity overlapping with voting sites, including a primary-day sighting of agents near the Cartwright School District Annex in Maryvale. The ACLU of Arizona sent letters to every county outlining federal and state laws prohibiting armed federal agents at polls, while Mi Familia en Acción and eight other groups filed a preliminary federal complaint seeking to block officers from polling locations. Pima County Attorney Laura Conover confirmed her office has litigation ready, and Pinal County conducted a tabletop exercise in Florence simulating a federal officer arriving at its election headquarters.
