Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Suspect in 2 women’s shooting deaths near Strip arrested

OmarTalley

Omar Talley

Updated Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 | 10:06 p.m.

A man was arrested Saturday in connection with the shooting deaths of two women the previous night near the Las Vegas Strip.

Omar Talley, 30, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder with a deadly weapon, one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, six counts of discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle and six counts of discharging a gun from a vehicle. He was booked at the Clark County Detention Center. Omar's city of residence and time of arrest were not known.

Detectives seek the public's help finding a vehicle thought to be linked to the slayings. It's described as a dark-gray, 2015 Toyota Camry with license plate number 7MNJ601.

Earlier Saturday, the Clark County Coroner’s office identified the women killed in the shootings as Jennifer Margarita Chicas and Melissa Yvette Mendoza, both 27. Their cities of residence were not known.

The shooting followed a fight at the Miracle Mile Shops parking garage on the Strip that began about 1:20 a.m.

According to Metro Police:

Surveillance video from the parking garage showed a man with a gun getting into the Camry. Witnesses said that 10 minutes after the scuffle, they saw weapons being fired from vehicles at Harmon and Aldebaran avenues. Mendoza's body was found at the off-Strip intersection.

About four minutes later, a Hyundai rolled into the valet area at the Cosmopolitan, bumping another vehicle. Inside were Chicas, who was driving, and an unidentified man. Both had been shot.

It's not believed that shots were fired from the Hyundai, but police didn't say whether a weapon was found inside.

The pair were taken to University Medical Center, where Chicas died. The man is expected to survive.

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