Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Henderson Police: 3rd teen held after boy shot at abandoned house

Click to enlarge photo

Jaiden Caruso

Click to enlarge photo

Kody Harlan

Detectives have taken a third teen into custody in connection with Friday’s shooting death of a boy at an abandoned house, according to Henderson Police.

The suspect, whose name was not released, was taken into custody Wednesday night near Warm Springs and Pecos roads, Officer Scott Williams said.

He was expected to face counts “along the lines” of damage and tamper of evidence and “possibly” accessory to murder, Williams said. Authorities are pushing to have him certified as an adult, he said.

Officers on Friday arrested Jaiden Caruso, 16, and Kody Harlan, 17, after they crashed a stolen car in Henderson, police said.

During the investigation of that case, Harlan told detectives about a killing earlier that day at an abandoned house in the in the 2000 block of Cool Lilac Avenue, police said. Police said they found 17-year-old Matthew Minkler’s body covered in plastic in a closet.

Caruso is accused of shooting Minkler in the head after Caruso proposed a game a Russian roulette, according to a police report.

Videos on Caruso’s cell phone show Caruso boasting about “catching a body,” slang for killing someone, and several pictures of Minkler on a kitchen floor in a pool of blood, the report said.

After the shooting, Caruso and Harlan fled, but they returned minutes later to hide the body and attempt to clean up the scene, police said.

They are also accused of stealing Minkler’s wallet to buy drugs and shoes, police said. The wallet and a revolver with a spent cartridge were found in the stolen car, police said.

Caruso was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on a count of murder, and Harlan was being held on one count each of accessory to murder after the fact and destroying evidence, police said.