Suspect in NLV double-slaying, dismemberment to undergo mental evaluation

By Ana Ley

Friday, May 2, 2014 | 12:41 p.m.

A North Las Vegas man accused of killing two relatives and dismembering one of the bodies will be evaluated at a mental health facility in northern Nevada to help determine whether he is fit to stand trial.

Darius Sorrells, 30, will undergo the assessment at Lake's Crossing Center in Sparks, said his attorney Norman J. Reed, calling Sorrells "severely mentally ill."

During a mental competency hearing this morning in Clark County District Court, Judge Linda Bell said Sorrells' ability to stand trial remains in question – one doctor has deemed the man competent, while another was unable to make a determination.

A Clark County grand jury indicted Sorrells in the March slaying of his mother and sister.

North Las Vegas Police said Sorrells killed the women inside their house in the 6100 block of Stibor Street before taking a chainsaw to one of the bodies and cutting off the legs in a bathtub. He reportedly then wrapped the limbs in plastic and placed them in a freezer.

After going missing for at least four days, police found Janice Burden and Natasha Sorrells dead inside their disheveled home on March 30. A family friend who was searching for them had unwittingly walked past their decomposing bodies, thinking a sewage line had burst inside the house because a dark, pungent fluid covered much of the floor.

It turned out to be blood.

By the time police made the grisly discovery, Darius Sorrells - the key suspect in the slayings - was already was behind bars. He was arrested March 29 on unrelated charges after leading officers on a brief chase.

Family friends have suggested to police that Darius Sorrells, Burden's son and Natasha Sorrells' brother, is mentally unstable. He is to be arraigned on the indictment Tuesday in Clark County District Court. Sorrells remains behind bars without bail.