|
|
|
|
|
The Arizona Republic
|
An Article
|
|
Violence mars quiet lifestyle
April 20, 2000
By
Connie Cone Sexton
Copyright © 2000, Arizona Centrall
|
Life in Ventana Lakes is reserved for tennis and idle time for paddleboats on the community's lakes.
But on Wednesday, a deadly shooting shook the carefree retirement lifestyle, bringing shock and sadness.
Mike McCarthy lives in the Gardens part of the Peoria community, where duplexes are clustered in groups of twos and fours.
He said Wednesday's shooting was difficult to take in, especially because McCarthy's wife, Alina, just died on Monday.
On Wednesday morning, he and neighbors were at her funeral. On any other day, he might have been at the property owners meeting.
"We attended a lot of meetings," said McCarthy, a former committee member. "It's very possible that my friends would have been at the meeting if they hadn't been at the service."
Ventana Lakes, at 107th Avenue and Beardsley Road, got its start as a 480-acre master-planned community in the late 1980s, started by developer Burns International Inc., later to be taken over by Lennar Homes of Arizona Inc.
Designed for about 3,000 people, the property near 99th Avenue and Beardsley Road, doesn't sport a golf course, but there are two clubhouses, a fitness center and lakeside living.
Disruptions in the community have been few over the years, save for concern over the rumble of gravel trucks traveling along Beardsley.
For seven years, 57-year-old Marsha Smith has lived peacefully in the quiet community, enjoying the tree-lined streets and friendliness of her neighbors.
"It's a very nice community, and up until today, no problem," she said.
For Smith, it's been an ideal place for her and husband, Larry, to live.
"This today, really surprises me," she said. |
|
| |
|
View Comments (1) | Post a comment |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
