Relatives say Danielle Little’s children were at the center of her life before a dispute outside her apartment turned deadly.
PHOENIX, Ariz. — The fatal shooting of Danielle Little in north Phoenix has left relatives mourning a 35-year-old mother of seven while police and prosecutors pursue a murder case against the neighbor accused of killing her.
Little died after a March 23 argument outside an apartment complex near 11th Avenue and Mountain View Road, where police said she and 21-year-old Daniel Rombach Jr. had been involved in a verbal dispute before he shot her. Family members said the fight centered on $100 tied to a minor car accident from the month before. The story has carried unusual weight because relatives say children saw the violence and because one of Little’s babies remains in the NICU, making the family’s loss both public and deeply personal.
Before the case moved into the courts, it unfolded as a neighborhood confrontation that family members say should never have reached a gun. Relatives said Little had accidentally backed into Rombach’s car while trying to take her children to school. Her sister, Hailey Byer, said there were no major signs of damage and that Little had promised to repay $100 within two weeks. But according to family members, the money had not been paid by Monday morning, when Rombach and another woman confronted Little and her husband outside. Police said officers were called to the complex at about 8:05 a.m. and found Little wounded. She was taken to a hospital but did not survive. Family members said the shooting happened in front of children, turning an ordinary school-day morning into a scene of panic and bloodshed.
Relatives have used the days since Little’s death to tell a fuller story about who she was. Byer said her sister had endured difficult years, including drug use, but got sober for her children and stayed committed to them. Her son, Jayden Daniels, called her a wonderful person. Her husband, Kyle Daniels, said she will be forever loved and remembered. Arizona’s Family reported that Little was known as “DJ” and had recently given birth. One child, family members said, remains in neonatal intensive care. That detail has shaped the family’s grief because the loss is not only emotional but practical: relatives are now dealing with funeral costs, the care of multiple children and the strain of helping a newborn still in the hospital. A GoFundMe page was later created to help with burial expenses and support the children.
The case also carries a stark record of violence. Police said Rombach and Little were neighbors and that the shooting followed a verbal argument. Arizona’s Family reported that a neighbor videotaped the encounter and that court records said Little was shot at point-blank range. Byer said one of the children was standing nearby. Records cited by the station said Rombach told police he did not mean to kill Little. Officials have not publicly described every movement captured on the video, and detectives have not released all witness statements. Still, the broad outline is clear: a disagreement over a minor collision and a small debt ended with a mother dead outside her home and a young man taken to jail on a murder allegation.
Rombach was first detained at the scene and then booked into jail. Police said he was accused of murder, and later reporting said he was facing a second-degree murder charge. Arizona’s Family said he was being held on a $1 million cash-only bond. FOX 10 reported that his next court date was scheduled for March 30. Those procedural steps matter because they mark the point where a neighborhood tragedy becomes a formal criminal case, one that will now depend on police reports, witness accounts, video evidence and prosecutors’ charging decisions. Investigators have said the case remains open, and authorities have not announced whether additional evidence could change the count or add other allegations.
For the family, though, the legal timeline runs beside a more immediate one: the daily work of grief. Daniels said he still sees the scene in his mind when he looks outside. Byer said the image of her sister dying will stay with her forever. Those statements, raw and direct, have become part of how the case is understood in Phoenix. Little is not only the victim named in police reports; she is also a mother whose absence will now be measured in school runs missed, hospital visits changed and seven children growing up without her. The public case may move through hearings and filings, but the private cost is already fixed inside one family’s home.
As of Wednesday, the homicide investigation was still active and Rombach remained jailed. The next key step is the March 30 court date, while Little’s relatives continue planning her funeral and care for her children.
Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.