Three valley residents slain over weekend

Keith Paul covers crime and public safety for the Sun. He can be reached a (702) 259-4057 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Three Las Vegas Valley residents were killed this weekend in three separate slayings including the first homicide in Henderson in more than a year.

Frank T. McDonald, 21, of Henderson, was charged Saturday with murder in connection with the shooting death of Mario E. Reyes, 26, also of Henderson. There were no criminal homicides in Henderson in 1999, and while police charged McDonald with murder, detectives are still trying to determine if Reyes' death may have been accidental, police said.

McDonald, Reyes and several other men were outside in the 100 block of Silver Road late Friday into early Saturday. They apparently had a 9 mm handgun because there was some animosity between the group and another man over a woman, said Capt. Richard Perkins of Henderson Police.

The man was not in the area and the group of men, who apparently had been drinking, were playing with the gun when it went off, striking and killing Reyes, who apparently owned the gun, Perkins said.

The last criminal homicide in Henderson was in late 1998, Perkins said.

In Las Vegas late Sunday, 18-year-old Priscilla Garvin was stabbed to death and her 21-year-old boyfriend, Desmond D. Flemming, was charged with murder.

Garvin and Flemming were apparently arguing in their home in the 500 block of Bowman Avenue over the care of their 1-year-old child, Metro Police homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said.

Garvin was stabbed several times in the upper body and died in surgery at University Medical Center. Flemming was taken to the hospital for several wounds to his hands. He was listen in fair condition this morning.

Once Flemming recovers from his wounds, he will be taken to the Clark County jail, Petersen said.

Earlier Sunday, 81-year-old Juan Rivas shot and killed his son-in-law, 50-year-old Richard Herrera, about 1:15 a.m., and then shot himself to death, Metro Police said.

Detectives are still trying to determine what happened at the home in the 2900 block of Du Barry Manor Lane, near Rainbow Boulevard between Smoke Ranch Road and Cheyenne Avenue, where both men lived.

Police arrived at the home to find Herrera's wife outside in the street, Petersen said. She told police that her husband, father and 13-year-old son were still inside.

Police found Herrera dead on the floor near the master bedroom with a gunshot wound to the chest, and then they heard another gunshot from the upstairs bedroom.

Knowing that the suspect could still be armed and not knowing where the 13-year-old was, police sealed the house and called for crisis negotiators and the SWAT team, Petersen said.

The SWAT team entered the house and found that Rivas had shot and killed himself in an upstairs bedroom, Petersen said.

The 13-year-old and his mother were not injured during the shootings, police said.

There is no known motive for Herrera's slaying. Herrera's wife told police there had been no argument before the shooting, but her father has some mental and physical problems, Petersen said.

"The wife said (Herrera) came into the bedroom (and said) 'Your father shot me' and then collapsed,' " Petersen said.

The two weekend slayings in Las Vegas brings this year's total of homicides in Metro's jurisdiction to 17 compared with seven at the same time last year.

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