Suspected Pinal County Church Shooter Found Dead in Desert

Dominic Donatella

​The man who police say shot his ex-wife in a church parking lot on Tuesday was found dead in the desert from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

We hate to say it, but we kinda had a feeling this was how this story would end.

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office found the body of Dominic Donatella, 39, in the desert off Interstate 8 near Gila Bend yesterday, just a mile from where he'd abandoned his car, which was found by police earlier in the day.


On Tuesday, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office got a call around 7 p.m. from a man at the Christ the Victor church in Florence saying shots had been fired at the church.

When the cops got to the scene, they found Donatella's ex-wife, 35-year-old Jamie Gallegos, dead in the parking lot.

Gallegos, police say, was taking her two children, ages 7 and 9, to karate practice at the church when she was shot.

PCSO spokesman Tim Gaffney tells New Times Donatella was arrested in May for domestic violence. Gaffney says Gallegos was the victim in that incident, as well.