Police: Teen girl fatally shot amid father’s dispute over money

By Jackie Valley

Published Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 | 10:55 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 | 5:46 p.m.

A Las Vegas man who had been feuding with 15-year-old Alexus Postorino's father was arrested for allegedly killing her and critically injuring a man while invading a southwest valley home Monday morning.

Metro Police arrested Norman Belcher, 35, and charged him with murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon and burglary with a deadly weapon, according to an arrest report released Tuesday.

The girl's father, William Postorino, who arrived at the scene after the shooting, told police he was involved in an ongoing feud with the suspect because he owed Belcher money, the arrest report stated. William Posterino's phone allegedly contained text message threats from Belcher.

Metro Police received a report of shots fired at 2:43 a.m. Monday and responded to the home in the 9700 block of Villa Lorena Drive. That location is near the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Grand Canyon Drive.

Officers arrived to find the front door of the home had been kicked in. Police then found Nicholas Brabham, 31, and Alexus Postorino inside the home with multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said.

Both were taken to University Medical Center, where Alexus Postorino died and Brabham was undergoing surgery. Metro Police homicide Lt. Lew Roberts said Tuesday that Brabham was in "very critical condition."

Brabham had gunshot wounds to the hip area, police said.

Roberts said police suspect the shooting was narcotics-related. He said investigators believe Belcher acted alone and police aren't searching for anyone else in the case, but authorities haven't ruled out that a second person could have been involved.

Police said William Postorino was at a casino when the shooting occurred.

After the shooting, police found a woman staying at the home who had jumped out a second-story window into the backyard after the shooting. The woman told police she was laying in bed with Brabham when they heard glass break and he went to investigate, according to the arrest report.

Moments later, she heard multiple shots fired and hid in the closet until Brabham returned and collapsed. She jumped out the bedroom window and stayed in the backyard until police arrived, according to the arrest report.

Shortly before 6 a.m., police found a burned white Nissan Versa at the Crossroads Apartments in the 400 block of N. Lamb Boulevard. It was the same car that had been stopped at 3:19 a.m. near Durango Road and the Las Vegas Beltway, driven by Belcher, who was issued a traffic citation, according to the arrest report.

Investigators contacted United Hyundai and learned Belcher had rented the vehicle Dec. 3 and was scheduled to return it Dec. 10.

Detectives found Belcher at the Siegel Suites in the 5200 block of East Craig Road. He agreed to be interviewed, but denied being in the area of the Postorino residence earlier in the day, the arrest report states.

Police interviewed Belcher on Monday at the homicide bureau on Oakey Avenue. He said that in the early morning hours, he had been at two bars on Craig Road.

Belcher also denied receiving a traffic citation, but the officer who made the traffic stop positively identified him, the arrest report alleges. He also was in possession of an electronic key to the Versa, police said.

The traffic stop occurred 36 minutes after the 911 call reporting shots fired at the Postorino residence. Cellular telephone records identified Belcher as being in the area of the burned car at the time it was apparently burning, the report stated.

Because Belcher was traveling away from the shooting scene, police arrested him and took him to the Clark County Detention Center.

William Postorino walked through the home with investigators after they finished processing the crime scene and told detectives a television, a laptop computer and a safe were missing.

Investigators also contacted a neighbor who told police she heard loud noises, which prompted her to look out her window. She said she saw someone loading items into a white Versa, then the car left the area shortly before police arrived.

Court records indicate Belcher has a criminal history in Clark County dating to 1993. Most recently, in 2007, Belcher was sentenced to 48 to 120 months in prison for the voluntary manslaughter of Allen Deas in May 2003.

According to a warrant, Deas was an associate of Belcher's but the two never got along. Deas' body, with evidence of blunt force head trauma, was found wrapped in a comforter in an apartment building garage.

In 2005, Belcher pleaded guilty to a stolen vehicle charge; in 2003, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit battery.

William Postorino, court records show, pleaded guilty in 2004 to trafficking in controlled substances, a felony. He was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison. According to a warrant, William Postorino allegedly was producing and selling methamphetamine in his father's Las Vegas home.

Belcher is being held without bail. His case is scheduled to go before a judge at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Alexus Postorino was a student at the Southwest Career and Technical Academy. School district officials said the Crisis Response Team provided grief counseling Tuesday for students along with the school's guidance counselors.

Meanwhile, messages of sadness and disbelief poured in on a memorial Facebook page dedicted to Alexus Postorino, which described her as a "smart, beautiful, perfect girl" and "the best friend anyone could EVER ask for."

No memorials had been scheduled at the school on Tuesday, but students planned via Facebook to wear black in her honor.

Sun reporter Cara McCoy contributed to this report.