Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Man arrested after standoff with Las Vegas police is suspect in slaying

Updated Wednesday, July 17, 2019 | 6:03 p.m.

Click to enlarge photo

Alvester J. Wilson

Four minutes after a pair of alleged murder suspects drove into a northwest valley apartment complex earlier this month, another camera caught them approaching the victim’s upstairs unit.

Seconds later, the duo was seen running away from the crime scene, while Michael Rakem Menephee lay gravely injured at the doorway of his apartment with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Metro Police.

The fatal round blasted through the front door as Menephee, 20, was answering it, police said. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. on July 3 in the 3100 block of Soaring Gulls Drive, near Cheyenne Avenue and Rampart Boulevard.

Menephee’s sister was inside the apartment at the time of the slaying, police said. His mother was in the downstairs parking lot when she saw his killers were leaving, police said.

Menephee died three days later at University Medical Center, according to the Clark County Coroner’s Office.

On Tuesday afternoon, Alvester John Asaieahea Wilson was in handcuffs, after an hours-long standoff with Metro SWAT officers and negotiators in a south valley neighborhood.

Wilson, 28, was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on one count each of murder, shooting into an occupied structure and being a felon in possession of a gun, jail logs show.

One tipster named Wilson, while another gave detectives an address where he can be found, police said. They came forward after Metro put out a video days later showing two men pull up to the victim’s apartment at the time of the killing.

Menephee’s mother helped identify him after a photo lineup.

On Tuesday, Metro SWAT and negotiators responded to the 9700 block of Fox Estate Street where Wilson was refusing to come out. He was in custody hours later.

It wasn’t clear which of the two men opened fire, or if police had identified the other suspect. A possible motive for the shooting hadn’t been disclosed.