2 Arizona Brothers Arrested After 17-Year-Old Girl's Decomposing Body Found Stuffed Inside Plastic Container

Two brothers in Arizona were arrested after the police discovered the decomposing body of a 17-year-old girl in a plastic container in their backyard.

Phoenix police arrested Daniel Torrealba, 21, and his brother Edwin Chavez-Blas, 19, for concealment of a dead body and tampering with evidence in connection to the death of Destiny Munoz.

Munoz, who shared a 1-year-old child with Torrealba, was missing for about 10 days before her body was discovered on Oct. 5 by the police. The medical examiner’s office said the cause of death was a gunshot wound, AZCentral reported.

On the night of the discovery, the officers responded to a report regarding a possible dead person at a residence in the Central Phoenix area around 2 a.m. While checking the location, they came across a plastic tote container, a 9mm handgun, coveralls and gloves in Torrealba’s car parked at the residence.

The container gave off a strong odor of "decomposing matter," and officers then discovered Munoz’s body inside it with signs of decomposition.

Torrealba told the investigators Munoz shot herself in the face following an argument about their relationship. He claimed the victim frequently threatened to kill herself, and, during the last argument, the former had told her "to go ahead and do it." Torrealba told the officers he tried to take the gun from her when it fired.

Torrealba did not tell anyone about Munoz’s death because he was not allowed to possess a gun and was afraid that he would get into trouble for it, the police said. He then reportedly cleaned up her body, and called Chavez-Blas to help cover up her death.

Surveillance video obtained by the police from a Home Depot allegedly showed Chavez-Blas buying a roll of duct tape, a plastic tote container and other items. He also bought a chainsaw with the intention of dismembering Munoz’s body.

The brothers then allegedly wrapped Munoz's dead body in plastic, duct-taped it, and stuffed it inside the plastic tote container.

At the time of Munoz’s death, Torrealba was on federal probation for a felony conviction charge of transporting illegal aliens for profit, according to KPNX.

Officials said Torrealba gave a different narrative of the incident to his family. He allegedly told them he pushed Munoz and she hit her head.

Police believe Munoz died around Sept. 26. They also found evidence of blood splatter and blood cleanup inside the residence. Chavez-Blas was arrested in Torrealba's backyard while Torrealbas was arrested a short time later.