Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

DA drops murder charge against Mojave High student

Patrick Wayne Harper

Courtesy

Attorneys for Mojave High School student Patrick Wayne Harper, 16, say this image from a security video shows Harper, right, at a convenience store about the time of a shooting in which the teen originally was charged. The Clark County District Attorney’s Office subsequently dismissed the case against Harper.

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Patrick Wayne Harper

A murder charge was dropped today against a Mojave High School student arrested in the slaying of a North Las Vegas woman, after new video evidence emerged in the case.

Patrick Wayne Harper, 16, will be released from custody after his defense team said they discovered video of the teen at a convenience store more than a mile from the crime scene about the time of the shooting.

The Clark County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that the case against Harper has been dismissed.

Harper was arrested Sept. 11 on a murder charge in the Sept. 5 slaying of 20-year-old Andrea Lafon in North Las Vegas.

Witnesses originally told police Harper and another individual were attempting to buy marijuana from Lafon in the 2600 block of Small Mountain Avenue, according to a Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services arrest report.

They told police Harper became angry and shot Lafon in the head, the report said.

Attorney Kristina Wildeveld, a member of Harper’s defense team, said the video showed the teen with another individual at an AM-PM convenience store from 7:06 p.m. to just after 7:13 p.m. Initial reports of the shooting came in about 7:15 p.m., according to the report.

Wildeveld said Harper could be seen walking south in the direction of his school for a football game, not east in the direction of the shooting scene, after exiting the store.

According to the arrest report, Harper told police he knew nothing about the shooting and was at the football game about the time of the incident.

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