North Las Vegas police arrest second suspect in deadly October shooting, faces murder charge
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — North Las Vegas police arrested a second suspect in an October shooting that left one man dead, police said Thursday.
On Monday, Oct. 2 at around 4 p.m., NLVPD officers were called to the 20 block of Hoke Edward Court near Lone Mountain Road and Commerce Street after reports of a shooting.
Arriving officers found a man, later identified as 21-year-old Jimmy Smith III, who had been shot. Medical personnel responded to the scene and pronounced him dead on the scene.
The victim’s autopsy showed that he had a total of six gunshot wounds to his body, a report said.
On Oct. 3, detectives identified 21-year-old Keara Drayer as a suspect in the case. She was taken into custody and booked on charges of open murder and challenging to fight with a deadly weapon.
On Wednesday, Nov. 1, detectives took 20-year-old Tavion Tinsley into custody as the second suspect. He was booked into the North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center on a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon.
According to an arrest report for Drayer, a witness at the scene told dispatch that they heard several gunshots, saw a vehicle leave the scene, and a woman was screaming that her boyfriend was dead, police said.
Smith’s girlfriend told police that the two of them lived together for over two years and had a newborn child together.
Smith had recently gone through his girlfriend’s phone and saw that she was talking to a longtime friend, identified as Drayer, whom he did not get along with. Smith then took his girlfriend’s phone and texted Drayer, allegedly saying he was going to slap her, police said.
The girlfriend told police that she heard a car pull up to the home. Shortly after, Drayer walked into the room, unannounced, and confronted Smith over the text message.
She said to Smith, “You said you were gonna slap me? I wanna see it!,” and “You suck, come outside,” the report stated.
Smith then followed Drayer out of the bedroom and started to go down the stairs. While he was at the stairs, the victim’s girlfriend heard him confront two men saying “Why are y’all here, y’all don’t live here,” the report said.
She then heard several gunshots, and when she looked out the window, saw Drayer and three other people run out of the house and into a car.
When officers spoke to Drayer, she said that she and Smith’s girlfriend were longtime friends, however, she never got along with him, saying he was very controlling of who she hung out with.
She said she was at Smith’s house the night before the shooting and cooked them all dinner. When she left for the night, she was under the impression they were all on good terms, the report stated.
She told officers that when she went over to the house the night of the shooting, the victim chased her out of the bedroom and she never saw a gun and only heard gunshots, police said.
Tinsley’s exact involvement in the shooting is not known at this time.
In the state of Nevada, a murder charge can apply to those who aid or abet in a murder, not just the person accused of pulling the trigger.
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