Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020 | 4:41 p.m.
Maurice Avery Lopez II
Metro Police have identified a suspect accused of fatally stabbing a man during an illegal pool party that attracted more than 250 people late last month.
Maurice Avery Lopez II, 33, has sine July 24 been booked at the Clark County Detention Center on a count of murder, jail logs show.
A warrant for his arrest was issued two days after Eric Ropeti Tia, 24, suffered a fatal stab wound in the chest at a large house on 4813 Richmar Avenue, near Decatur and Silverado Ranch boulevards, Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
Lopez appeared in court this morning, when his bail was set at $50,000, records show. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
About 100 people were still at the house, some of whom were trying to leave, when officers responded to the stabbing at about 10:50 p.m. July 22, according to Lopez’s arrest warrant.
A person who attended the party with Tia said he heard his friend’s name being called out before he turned around to see Tia in what he thought was a fistfight, police said.
But when the friend separated Tia from the fight, he saw that he was bleeding, police said. He also saw the man Tia had fought was holding a pocket knife.
Tia died at University Medical Center less than an hour after he was stabbed.
An anonymous tipster described the alleged killer and his 4-inch blade, police said.
The friend picked Lopez out of a photo lineup, and the warrant was issued for Lopez’s arrest. An arrest report wasn’t immediately available.
Gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned in Nevada due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Additionally, the house, in unincorporated Clark County, was rented on short-term rental service, which is illegal under county ordinance, police said.
Metro Capt. Reggie Rader said Monday that there’s been an uptick of violence at large parties at houses, some of which have been illegally leased through short-term rental services.
In the “past several months,” he said, there’d been three slayings and 15 shootings reported at such gatherings, Rader said.
One of the killings occurred 10 days after Tia was stabbed. On Aug. 1, police responded to a party that turned deadly at 5770 Ruby Creek Drive, which is also in unincorporated Clark County.
Officers found 23-year-old Ashton Price suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest, and later determined that another shooting victim had self-transported to a hospital, where he recovered, police said.
Price, a college football player, was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire, Rader said.
Police haven’t announced any arrests in Price’s killing.
