Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Police seek two in death of toddler found in trash bin

Investigators say girl died from trauma to the head

Wanted for questioning

Metro Police

Darrean Williams and William Marshall were being sought in the death of a toddler girl found in a trash bin Wednesday near the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Updated Thursday, June 11, 2009 | 1:13 p.m.

Toddler found dead in trash bin

Metro Police officers investigate after a dead baby was discovered in a trash bin Wednesday behind the Kona Loha Sierra apartment complex. Launch slideshow »

Baby found dead

Metro Police are looking for a man and a woman for questioning in the death of a girl toddler found dumped in a trash bin Wednesday.

Darrean Williams, 20, and William Marshall, 37, are being sought by police, Lt. Lew Roberts said during a news conference late this morning.

The cause of the toddler's death is homicide by blunt force trauma to the head, Roberts said. The Clark County Coroner's Office was scheduled to complete an autopsy of the girl, who is between 1 and 2 years of age, he said.

"These are persons of interest," Roberts said. "They are being actively sought."

The girl has been named "Baby Jane Vista" during the investigation, police said.

People living near the 500 block of Sierra Vista Drive near Swenson Avenue recognized the tot's photo on the Internet, television and other news sources, Roberts said. Police received phone calls that led a team of investigators to the man and the woman, he said.

"People had seen a young female around the area," Roberts said regarding the woman whom police are seeking.

The woman is the toddler's mother and Marshall is believed to be her boyfriend. "We don't know who the father is," Roberts said.

Marshall has no criminal record and Williams was cited in May for a minor consuming alcohol, said Officer Barbara Morgan, a spokeswoman for Metro Police.

The mother is believed to have lived at the Kona Loa Sierra apartments on Sierra Vista, Roberts said.

Homeless men looking through the trash in one of half a dozen garbage bins behind apartment complexes in the 500 block of Sierra Vista Drive discovered the girl's body wrapped in a sheet, Roberts said. She was wearing a diaper, but had no other clothing.

One of the men ran into the street and flagged down a police cruiser after finding the body about 4 p.m. Wednesday, Roberts said.

The trash bin was in an open parking lot at the back of an apartment complex, police said. Homicide detectives, neglect and abuse investigators and missing persons officers responded to the area, blocking the trash bins with yellow crime scene tape. They returned to the area this morning to distribute fliers and interview anyone with information, Roberts said.

Police did not find anyone suspicious on surveillance tapes they gathered from the area, Roberts said.

Anyone with information about the death is asked to call Metro Police at 828-5678 or 828-3111. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

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