Arrest made in February slaying at cookout at Las Vegas apartment complex

By John Taylor (contact)

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 | 12:54 p.m.

An overheard comment about a past gang affiliation prompted an incident last month that left a Las Vegas man dead.

Ronald Stampley, 23, Las Vegas, was arrested Tuesday, more than a month after he is alleged to have killed 37-year old Kary Okeith Wells, who was attending a Feb. 1 cookout at La Residencias Apartments, 2900 Charleston Blvd. Stampley is charged with murder and is jailed in the Clark County Detention Center without bond.

The Clark County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday released a declaration of warrant that lays out Metro Police’s investigation into Wells’ death.

According to the report:

In the early evening hours of Feb. 1, Wells was “hanging out” outside one of the apartment complex buildings where a cookout was taking place. During the course of conversation, a pair of men descended a staircase where Wells was sitting. One of the men asked Wells, “Did I hear you say you were a Blood?” Wells replied, “I used to be.”

The men exchanged words, and Wells was struck in the face. Wells, unable to break his fall, struck his head on the ground. One or both of the men who had approached Wells then began kicking Wells. At one point one of the men stomped on Wells’ face, rendering him unconscious.

Another person at the cookout chased off the two men. Wells, meanwhile, was found to have no pulse, and witnesses called 911.

A day after the shooting, Metro received a call from Stampley’s girlfriend. She said Stampley had returned to his apartment about 10 p.m. Feb. 1 and was upset. Stampley told the woman he had been in a fight, thought he had killed a man and asked the woman to tell authorities he had been in the apartment the entire night.

The other man involved in the incident, Paul Anthony Thomas Jr., told police on Feb. 8 he had been struggling with a guilty conscience in the days after Wells’ death. In recounting the events to police, Thomas said Stampley had struck Wells three times in the head, causing Wells to fall. Then, Thomas said, Stampley used his foot to stomp on Wells’ face.

Thomas told police he did not instigate the confrontation and did not strike Wells, and that he voluntarily would take a polygraph test.

Stampley, according to arrest records, is scheduled to appear at 7:30 a.m. Thursday for a hearing in Las Vegas Township Justice Court.