Looking back at a Chandler cop's murder case

By Nick R. Martin | February 16th, 2009 | 2:50 pm | 8 Comments »


Dan Lovelace

In a front-page story on Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle looked back at a 2002 case that rocked the Phoenix area after a suburban police officer was accused of murder in the on-duty shooting death of a mother of three.

The Chronicle took a close look at the trial of former Chandler police officer Dan Lovelace, acquitted in 2004 of second-degree murder, in light charges being filed against a Bay Area police officer, accused of killing an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform while on duty.

In the profile, the newspaper shows how rare it is for a police officer to be accused of what it calls “the ultimate charge.” Police kill 350 people a year nationally, but the Lovelace case was just one of six in the past 15 years — not including the Oakland case — in which prosecutors have filed murder charges. None were convicted of murder.

The newspaper scored interviews with a wide array of players in the case, including a juror who acquitted Lovelace, and former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, who said he brought the charge in part to send a message to law enforcement. The husband of Dawn Rae Nelson, the woman who died in the shooting, was also interviewed.

Lovelace, according to the story, now works as a substitute teacher on an American Indian reservation, but he still wants to be a police officer. “There’s a long road ahead,” he told the newspaper. “Life never comes back to where it was. You can wish and wish and wish, but there’s no such thing as moving on.”

As a side note: The lead prosecutor in the Lovelace case was Vince Imbordino, who is now heading the state’s ongoing eight-count murder trial against Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner.

Read the Chronicle’s story.


  • Constance

    I am the daughter of Dawn Rae Nelson.The thing that Lovelace doesn’t mention is how in the interal investigation in his interview with police he says he messed up. Take a look at the facts, my mom was shot at a downward angel app. 4 to 5 feet away the bullet trajectory tells you all of this. The internal investigation which is the script I read after the passed was inedmissable in court. Look at years earlier he caused the death of Brad Dowling the 19 year old ASU student, not to mention the failed use of force test 6 months prior to my mom’s incident. My little brother Keneth was only 14 month old at the time and in the back seat for crying out loud. You know I understand she was trying to pasa a bad perscription and I make no excuses she had a problem that had come back I mean For the first ten years of my life I saw her in and out of the hospital so many times becuz my dad would beat the crap out of her , hecracked her skull, strangled her and the only reason she stayed was becuz I had to sleep back to back with my dad . He didn’t even let me go to school so she couldn’t leave him, he was sick and finally he tried to strangle her with one of his belt and she had to stab him with a butter knife all in front of me age 8 , and my brother age 3. She became numb that’s how she dealt with it, but when we moved to Phoenix it was her new beginning just remarried , a new baby , and she had a boob job done from beastfeeding three kids , and the doctor messed it up one under the muscle one not form hematomahs of blood was in alot of pain, so they persribed her pills and that was about 5 or 6 months before she passed. She had been in the ICU from a car accident two months before , and I thought I was going to lose her then . My mom wasn’t a junkie she was so strong had gone through so much shit and she always had a smile , she brought a light to the room she was a great mom. There is no doubt she needed help from slipping into perscription pills but Death should had been on the plate. You know I witch all these cop shows and read about stories and their are criminals that lead officers on these high-speed dangerous chases and they have weapons possibly used and death or being shot is not a result. That is why he was fired. People can say what they want about him but it;s BS. To draw a gun on a 5 foot 110 woman trying to forge a fake perscription when he had checked the trunk and spoken with her knowing the is a baby in the car and when he walks around back to check the lisence plate she started the car and started to drive she got maybe 5 or 10 feet and he shot . He was going off duty. The officer that responded that was on duty pulled up right after lovelace had to jump through the window and slam the car in park. They almost rolled into each other. Then you lovelace call the incident in and say my mom tried to hit him. That was so hard when I found out not only that my mother is dead but this cop is saying she tried to hurt him. That next morning Sat october 12 Romley appoligized to our family saying those statements shouldn’t had bee made about my mother, following shortly after he is fired and charged with 2nd degree murder and reckless endangerment. And the reason why he was accuited is because the trial was pushed back, and back about two years so when it came to the witnesses they drew loop holes in the testimonies by saying where here hands at ten and two , or 12 and 6 for example , putting doubt in their testimonies. It sucks without her I ‘m 22 and sice I’ve been 15 I haven’t had her the only one that I had . My son doesn’t have a grandmother my brothers don’t have a mom , our family was broken apart. Regardless of personal feelings if you accually have access to the files and have read them and you know Lovelace’s file and all the BS that goes along with that you would agree he doesn’t need to be in the position to harm someone or to cause the harm of someone.

    • Michaelwakefield

      Was your mom’s name ever Dawb Rae Court?

    • Christine

      Hi Constance,
      I was your moms friend when she moved to your apartment near the beach. Your mother was so strong. I admired her. You and your brother were young but you were an amazing daughter. I was so sorry to hear about your mom. I think of your mom often. She was a good friend to me during my time in Florida. Best wishes to you.
      Christine

  • Constance

    I am the daughter of Dawn Rae Nelson.The thing that Lovelace doesn't mention is how in the interal investigation in his interview with police he says he messed up. Take a look at the facts, my mom was shot at a downward angel app. 4 to 5 feet away the bullet trajectory tells you all of this. The internal investigation which is the script I read after the passed was inedmissable in court. Look at years earlier he caused the death of Brad Dowling the 19 year old ASU student, not to mention the failed use of force test 6 months prior to my mom's incident. My little brother Keneth was only 14 month old at the time and in the back seat for crying out loud. You know I understand she was trying to pasa a bad perscription and I make no excuses she had a problem that had come back I mean For the first ten years of my life I saw her in and out of the hospital so many times becuz my dad would beat the crap out of her , hecracked her skull, strangled her and the only reason she stayed was becuz I had to sleep back to back with my dad . He didn't even let me go to school so she couldn't leave him, he was sick and finally he tried to strangle her with one of his belt and she had to stab him with a butter knife all in front of me age 8 , and my brother age 3. She became numb that's how she dealt with it, but when we moved to Phoenix it was her new beginning just remarried , a new baby , and she had a boob job done from beastfeeding three kids , and the doctor messed it up one under the muscle one not form hematomahs of blood was in alot of pain, so they persribed her pills and that was about 5 or 6 months before she passed. She had been in the ICU from a car accident two months before , and I thought I was going to lose her then . My mom wasn't a junkie she was so strong had gone through so much shit and she always had a smile , she brought a light to the room she was a great mom. There is no doubt she needed help from slipping into perscription pills but Death should had been on the plate. You know I witch all these cop shows and read about stories and their are criminals that lead officers on these high-speed dangerous chases and they have weapons possibly used and death or being shot is not a result. That is why he was fired. People can say what they want about him but it;s BS. To draw a gun on a 5 foot 110 woman trying to forge a fake perscription when he had checked the trunk and spoken with her knowing the is a baby in the car and when he walks around back to check the lisence plate she started the car and started to drive she got maybe 5 or 10 feet and he shot . He was going off duty. The officer that responded that was on duty pulled up right after lovelace had to jump through the window and slam the car in park. They almost rolled into each other. Then you lovelace call the incident in and say my mom tried to hit him. That was so hard when I found out not only that my mother is dead but this cop is saying she tried to hurt him. That next morning Sat october 12 Romley appoligized to our family saying those statements shouldn't had bee made about my mother, following shortly after he is fired and charged with 2nd degree murder and reckless endangerment. And the reason why he was accuited is because the trial was pushed back, and back about two years so when it came to the witnesses they drew loop holes in the testimonies by saying where here hands at ten and two , or 12 and 6 for example , putting doubt in their testimonies. It sucks without her I 'm 22 and sice I've been 15 I haven't had her the only one that I had . My son doesn't have a grandmother my brothers don't have a mom , our family was broken apart. Regardless of personal feelings if you accually have access to the files and have read them and you know Lovelace's file and all the BS that goes along with that you would agree he doesn't need to be in the position to harm someone or to cause the harm of someone.

  • Michaelwakefield

    Was your mom’s name ever Dawb Rae Court?

  • Mikey31

    No, her maiden name was Dawn Rae Smith ,then when she married my father then her last name became Stilley after she divorced my abusive father she met someone who made her happy and then remarried making her last name Nelson when she past away.

  • Liz

    I tried to contact the Chandler PD to get a copy of the police report, and they were VERY RUDE and hung up on me after I asked how to get the report number. I read the report initially right after the shooting, and there is NO WAY that Lovelace was NOT guilty of that shooting. I was angry that the County Attorney’s office NEVER ONCE introduced the Chandler PD Report during their “prosecution” of Lovelace, and instead allowed him and other law enforcement officers to LIE THEIR ASSES OFF on the stand. If there is any way to get a copy of that report, I want to do a book on this case and expose this kind of thing.

    • jennie

      My brother was killed by chandler police n I had a lawyer who all of a sudden is know longer taking my case its been a year I also tried getting the police report but they were so rude and it was not ready can someone lead me in the right direction please thx u Jennie jennieg602@gmail.com