"I was very saddened to hear of her passing," he said. While Adel moved to update the culture and priorities of her office, she also faced a pressure-packed campaign against Democrat Julie Gunnigle in 2020 to earn a four-year term of her own.Īdel won the election but spent the days after in the hospital after emergency surgery for a blood clot on her brain after a fall in her home days earlier.įormer longtime Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley had mentored and supported Adel earlier in her career. "It's unfortunate this day has come, but there's a lot of people out there who cared for her and saw the good she did over the years." "Being the Maricopa County attorney comes with a lot of stress, and Allister Adel did come with some controversy, but she did propose new policies that benefited victims and defendants," he said. He said the diversion policies Adel implemented have made a real difference in people's lives. They need to know we are taking care of them, protecting them, and empowering them.”ĭefense attorney Benjamin Taylor was on the committee the Board of Supervisors asked to interview candidates for the position in 2019. “The women in the office need to feel safe where they work. “Any inappropriate behavior, any harassment - workplace, sexual or otherwise - will absolutely not be tolerated,” Adel told The Arizona Republic at the time. He later agreed to be disbarred without acknowledging wrongdoing. Martinez handled the nationally watched murder trial of Jodi Arias. Perhaps nothing symbolized her intended change in direction more than her February 2020 decision to fire Juan Martinez, the office’s storied death penalty prosecutor who was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct. She updated pretrial diversion programs, created a prosecution integrity unit, changed plea policies and created community advisory boards. She was the first woman to hold that position, and then the first to be elected to the office when she won in November 2020.Īdel arrived in the office with a reform agenda intended to revamp an agency viewed by many as overly punitive under Montgomery and his predecessor, Andrew Thomas. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Adel as acting county attorney in October 2019 to replace Bill Montgomery, whom Ducey named to a seat on the Arizona Supreme Court. May she Rest In Peace."Īdel announced her resignation from the office March 21 during investigations by the State Bar of Arizona and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors into her sobriety and absences from office for weeks at a time. Doug Ducey shared in the public's reaction on Twitter, saying, "The hearts and prayers of Arizonans are with Allister’s family, colleagues and close friends. My thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and this community that she so dearly loved." Her many years of service to our community leaves a legacy that impacted crime victims, first responders, and animals, just to name a few. Rachel Mitchell, who replaced Adel as county attorney, said in a statement, "I am heartbroken to learn of Allister’s passing. We are so very proud to call Allister wife and mom,” her husband, David DeNitto, said in a statement. My family and I are utterly heartbroken by this unimaginable loss. “This May we would have celebrated 20 years of marriage. Her husband and family confirmed her death, citing “health complications.” She had resigned from the office six weeks ago. View Gallery: Allister Adel through the yearsįormer Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel, the first woman elected to that office, died Saturday at age 45.
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