Road rage: Phoenix area family remembers man killed in shooting; urges calm

Road rage shooting: Ariz. family remembers victim

There has been a string of road rage shootings and killings over the past several months in Maricopa County, and the family of one victim, along with prosecutors, are urging de-escalation. FOX 10's Megan Spector reports.

PHOENIX - There has been a string of road rage shootings and killings over the past several months in Maricopa County, and on Feb. 20, a family who was left bereaved under similar circumstances urged de-escalation behind the wheel to reduce the number of road rage homicides.

"I went from a two-parent household to a one. The children lost the biggest thing of their life at such a young age all because of something so senseless," said the wife of Larry Milligan, Christina Milligan.

"My father was the man of my life. I feel like anything his little princess wanted, you know, he got. He was a family man, he loved his kids like no other," said Larry's daughter, Valerie Milligan.

"It was definitely a big heartbreak. My dad was the one that brought all the holidays to the family. He was the life of the party," said Larry's son, Xavier Milligan.

The backstory:

Larry died in a road rage shooting in September 2020 along 7th Avenue, near I-10 in Downtown Phoenix. He was shot in the head and crashed into a power pole.

"They were strangers, and they probably had been in contact with each other for two minutes," said Jon Eliason, Deputy County Attorney for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. "By the time we went to trial, we were realizing it was about 45 seconds."

Larry, who was a commercial painter, was the youngest of 16 siblings. Before his death, he had just put a down payment of thousands of dollars for his daughter's quinceañera, and even took on extra work.

"Valerie's struggled the most, I think, of all. She still has yet to get a driver's license. Was given a car, gifted a car for her 15th birthday that she didn't even drive, and she don't," said Christina.

Police located the suspect's car more than a month later on the property of his girlfriend's family in Buckeye. The rims had been painted black. Officers took Steven Orona into custody.

"He went on about his life for two months, and we have to live with that for the rest of our lives. And it's not fair. No one should ever have to go through something like that," Valerie Milligan said.

Now 41 years old, Orona is serving life in prison.

"At trial, I think we were able to show pretty convincingly that the defendant was slowing down and engaging with Larry Milligan, and the defendant claimed that Larry was doing some of those same things too," Eliason said.

Dig deeper:

His father's death and the criminal proceedings inspired Xavier Milligan to pursue a career in law enforcement.

"I definitely feel like I've came from rock bottom when he initially, when he passed, to where we're at right now, and I feel like he would be proud of where we're at," said Xavier Milligan.

Last fall, Xavier became a police officer recruit at the Glendale Police Department. The family is sharing their pain, encouraging drivers to stay calm out on the roads and help prevent deadly violence.

"You hear on the news incidents like this that happen, but we don't really focus on the after effects of what the family has to go through after," Christina Milligan said.