As state leaders continue to take steps towards carrying out their first execution in years, President Donald Trump is taking action regarding capital punishment in his first days in office.
ABC15 sat down exclusively with Brittney Kay, the daughter of Ted Price, as she waits for her dad’s killer to have his final sentence carried out.
Ted Price
“I don’t have much,” said Kay. “I don’t have many memories.”
That’s because her dad, Ted Price, had his life cut short back in 2002. Kay said she was just a teen when it happened and her brother was even younger.
The memories she does carry with her are sweet moments of rides to school and his artistic talents. She described Price as a “big kid at heart.”
Kay remembers living in Arizona with her dad before eventually moving out of state with her mom and brother. Her parents eventually divorced and Price found a different long-term partner in the Valley.
Kay told ABC15, back in 2002, her family didn’t share all of the details of what happened to Price. But she does remember the moment when her mom delivered the news of his death.
“All I remember her saying to my now-stepfather was, ‘how am I going to tell them?'” remembered Kay. “And I heard her crying…She pulled my brother into my bedroom, and then she told us. And it just was kind of like a bombshell.”
Price was shot and killed while living in the Valley with the woman who had become his partner. Family said the 40-year-old father was missing for weeks and was ultimately found in a desert area off Highway 87 near Gilbert Road.
It would be months until Aaron Gunches was indicted for Price’s murder. During that time, he was arrested for shooting a DPS trooper near the California border. The injured trooper survived and Gunches pleaded guilty in both cases.
Price’s family was there through each court hurdle including the sentencing phase, which happened twice. Ultimately, Gunches was sentenced to death in 2013.
AG seeks new warrant
In early 2023, Gunches was set to be executed, but it was a date that would come and go. Governor Katie Hobbs said the state wasn’t ready and ordered a review of Arizona’s death penalty protocols.
“It’s like a slap in the face,” said . “Basically, a slap in the face. It’s a big letdown.”
Price’s daughter was one of two family members who even filed lawsuits, but they were left waiting until November 2024. That’s when Governor Hobbs fired the judge working on the review of the state’s execution protocol.
Attorney General Kris Mayes has since filed a warrant of execution for Gunches with the Arizona State Supreme Court.
Gunches is representing himself and previously asked the court to
“As much as I’m okay with him sitting in there because he doesn’t want to sit in there; we just, we need this to happen and to actually go forward so we can shut this chapter,” said Kay.
Calls for transparency
With a legal schedule to file briefs, is currently set to be considered by the State Supreme Court in February.
But the ACLU and others who have tracked executions for years, like Dale Baich, are calling for transparency.
Baich is a former federal public defender who has witnessed over 10 of his clients’ executions. That included Joseph Wood, who was convicted of killing Debra and Eugene Dietz. He was executed in 2014, in what many have referred to as a “botched execution.”
Currently, Baich is an adjunct professor at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
“When Governor Hobbs hired Judge (David) Duncan to conduct the independent review, she promised us that there would be transparency in the process,” said Baich. “That’s not happening now. What the Department of Corrections is saying is the same thing that prior Department of Corrections officials said – trust us.”
ABC15 sat down with retired Judge Duncan, who was assigned to complete that review on Tuesday. We asked if he believed Arizona was ready to resume the death penalty.
“Well, from what I saw, no,” said Judge Duncan.
The Arizona Department of Corrections completed its own review and told Governor Hobbs the state is ready.
Executive order
As all of this is playing out in Arizona, President Donald Trump signed an addressing when state and local leaders should seek capital punishment.
The order also called on the U.S. Attorney General to ensure states like Arizona have the drugs needed to carry out lethal injection.
ABC15 asked Attorney General Mayes about the executive order at her press conference Tuesday. She said it was not necessary for Arizona.
“We have procured the drugs necessary to carry out executions in Arizona,” said Attorney General Mayes. “We are prepared to do that. We anticipate that we will be executing Aaron Gunches on March 18, if the Supreme Court approves the execution warrant.”
As Price’s loved ones watch and wait they are speaking out hoping to bring the 40-year-old’s life back in focus.
“I’m hoping that this can just be final because it’s just… it’s too much,” said Kay.
The next deadline for legal responses to be filed in Gunches’ case is this Friday, January 24.
ABC15 did reach out to the DOC and Governor Hobbs, who both did not comment. Our team also reached out to the Maricopa County Attorney and Pinal County Attorney regarding the order’s language on capital punishment and potential changes here in Arizona.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office communications team said they had just learned about the order but it would take some time to, “determine if it will affect MCAO.”