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3:45 pm UTC Dec. 19, 2020
His name was Michael Russo, and he was 53 years old.
He was found unresponsive in a wheelchair near 20th Street and Thomas Road and pronounced dead there.
It was May 6, at the start of the second excessive heat warning in metro Phoenix in 2020. Russo was the first person experiencing homelessness this year to die as a result of heat exposure.
A combination of a common form of heart disease, recent methamphetamine use and environmental heat exposure caused Russo s death.
The Maricopa County medical examiner confirmed that heat was a primary or secondary cause of death in 146 deaths of people experiencing homelessness. The medical examiner listed another 10 deaths as suspected heat deaths, but the final reports are not yet ready for release.
9:37 pm UTC Dec. 18, 2020
More than 500 people experiencing homelessness in metro Phoenix died in the first nine months of 2020.
The unexpected and deadly COVID-19 virus which ravaged the world this year and killed more than 7,000 Arizonans was known to be responsible for only four of those deaths.
The rest were caused by the same concerns that killed hundreds of homeless people last year and, in all likelihood, will kill hundreds more next year.
Drug overdoses. Heatstroke. Malnutrition. Treatable illnesses. Vehicle collisions.
Nearly all of the people who died were not staying at a shelter at the time of their death. Their bodies were found outside in tents, on sidewalks, in a Porta Potty, under freeway tunnels and in dry river bottoms.