Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Brutality of attack shocks family

Sitting in the lobby of University Medical Center's trauma unit, John Del Prado reached into the breast pocket of his shirt and pulled out a stack of business cards and folded-up scraps of paper.

"All these people have given me their phone numbers and said, 'If you need anything, call me,' " he said, shaking his head. "The support we've received from the community has been phenomenal."

Del Prado and dozens of family members and friends have been keeping an around-the-clock vigil in the hospital lobby since Tuesday. Tuesday morning Elisa Del Prado, John's mother, was beaten in the head with a hammer in her downtown jewelry store, World Merchants-Importers, at 310 Carson Ave., police said.

A Metro Police report obtained Thursday by the Sun details the brutality of the attack that left Elisa Del Prado comatose and her 86-year-old mother, Juana Maria Quiroga, dead.

Police arrested jewelry repairman Avetis Archanian, 45, and charged him with committing the attacks.

Five security cameras film the inside of the store, Del Prado said. The cameras' output was recorded via a computerized device that police found and watched.

According to police reports:

The video shows Archanian entering the store shortly before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and appearing to exchange pleasantries with Elisa Del Prado and Quiroga before heading to the repair room.

A few minutes later, Archanian looked as if he was beckoning Elisa Del Prado into the repair room. Soon after that, the video shows Quiroga rushing toward the room, the report says.

She walked just inside the doorway and tried to get away, but "she was grabbed from behind by Archanian who was making a swinging motion," police said. Police said the object he allegedly used was a hammer that had been in the repair room.

The video shows Archanian emerging with a burgundy leather satchel and grabbing jewelry from the display counters. Del Prado said Archanian stole about 200 pieces of jewelry including diamonds, emeralds and rubies worth about $200,000.

He apparently washed up, then hid behind an interior pillar as pedestrians walked by the store, the report says. He left the store about 9:40 a.m., then returned 10 minutes later "as if nothing had happened," Del Prado said.

Archanian is shown walking up to the front door of the store as if to enter, but the door is locked, the report says. He told police he looked in the window and saw bodies inside then called 911.

Homicide detectives arrested Archanian at a gas station at Rainbow Boulevard and Russell Road, near his apartment.

Detectives searched Archanian's apartment and found the satchel and a pair of black gloves that had blood on them. Police also had noticed blood on his shoes, the report says.

On Thursday some family members sat in the lobby crying and others gave updates on Elisa Del Prado's condition to friends and relatives on cell phones. A flower arrangement and deli tray were on the floor.

Del Prado said he and his family were "in shock" when police told them Archanian had been arrested for the attack.

"We were dumbfounded," he said. "The police said they saw the tape and there was no question. It was him."

Another recent homicide of a woman outside a Sav-On pharmacy was also caught on surveillance video.

"At the risk of making the understatement of the year, if you have actual film footage of the crime being committed by the suspect, that's pretty compelling evidence," Homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said.

Archanian had been repairing jewelry at the store for the past three months, but became a permanent fixture in the store about three weeks ago, Del Prado said. A family friend recommended Archanian to the Del Prados.

He had a humble disposition, Del Prado said, and he seemed like a good guy.

"During the past three weeks, we gave him our trust and that was a mistake," he said.

The senselessness of the attack stunned the victims' family. Del Prado said there was no need for such a savage attack. John Del Prado said he often had to help his grandmother get out of the car, so if her attacker "had pushed her down, she wouldn't have gotten up."

Elisa Del Prado, a Cuban immigrant who opened her jewelry store in 1975, had been struggling with money problems, which she attributed to the fact that the city forced her to move the store from Fremont Street to Fourth and Carson to make way for the Fremont Street Experience.

Del Prado said he didn't think Archanian knew of their financial difficulties. The robber's motive was "strictly greed," Del Prado said.

Elisa Del Prado was to undergo surgery Thursday night. Her son said her condition has improved, but the doctors "are telling us that this is a day-to-day thing," he said.

John Del Prado praised the emergency workers and police, adding that "the work that the paramedics did on the scene is probably what saved her life."

Elisa Del Prado is a well-known member of the valley's Hispanic business community, having been one of the first business owners to join the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce when it was established in the mid-1970s. She served on the board of directors at one point.

Her customers, friends and well-wishers have been leaving flowers and notes outside her store since the attack, John Del Prado said.

He said he's not sure what will happen with the business, but that's not his main concern right now. Making sure his mother gets better has become his only focus.

"We're going to live with this for the rest of our lives," he said. "When this comes to trial, I want everyone to understand the brutality of this. It didn't have to happen this way."

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