TUCSON, ARIZONA – June 24, 2024 – In response to the sentencing of Murad Dervish for the murder of Thomas Meixner, the Pima County Attorney’s Office has released the following statement:
Today Judge Howard Fell sentenced Murad Dervish to a sentence of natural life in prison without parole, for the pre-meditated murder of University of Arizona Hydrology Processor Thomas Meixner that occurred on October 5th, 2022, on the university campus. The sentence also includes an additional 14 years for burglary, aggravated assault, possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited possessor, and endangerment. Last month a Pima County jury found Dervish guilty on all charges. This tragic case has had a traumatic impact on the victims and our community as a whole, and while the trial could have devolved into a highly charged spectacle, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover says: “The Court thanked all four attorneys, two defenders, and two prosecutors and noted that in his decades on the bench, he had never seen attorneys hold themselves to such high levels of professionalism and grace, to each other, to the jurors, to all. And I certainly could not be prouder of the prosecutors modeling such behavior.” In honor of the family’s expressed wishes, and under her desire for a safer community, County Attorney Conover will bring her red flag legislation back to the legislature again next year, and for as long as it takes, to bring home common-sense gun safety reforms for a safer and healthier community.
Media Contact: Shawndrea Thomas
Director of Communications
Pima County Attorney’s Office
(520) 724-5738 (Office)
(520) 310-4720 (Mobile)
Shawndrea.Thomas@pcao.pima.gov
