Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Surveillance video leads to arrest in slaying of woman outside shopping center

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Frank Campis

Before the single blast went off, Latoya Norgina Woolen, who had just finished shopping and was sitting on a parking lot short wall, likely did not see the suspect approach her from behind with a shotgun, according to Metro Police.

A man detectives connected to the shooting, Frank Campis, 55, was seen on video entering one of the stores Woolen had just gone into near Flamingo Road and Maryland Parkway on March 19, according to his arrest report.

Other cameras caught a van that resembled his beige 1980 Dodge van slowly drive past the victim and the driver get out and head toward her, police said. From the shooting, images only captured a muzzle flash go off.

When pressed by detectives, Campis said he was “at the wrong place at the wrong time,” police said.

Multiple people called 911 after witnessing a woman’s body about 8:45 p.m. in the 1000 block of Flamingo, police said. Officers found her belongings untouched.

A timeline of Woolen’s last moments was stitched together through surveillance images from the stores she’d entered and other surrounding businesses near the shopping center parking lot, police said.

Campis went into the store soon after Woolen but didn’t interact with her, police said. When she left, he soon followed.

Woolen went to sit on a wall — seemingly waiting for a ride — when a van that matched that of Campis drove slowly past her.

The driver parked, turn off the lights and got out, police said. He went back in the van, parked it nearby, got out and walked toward Woolen.

He was seen driving away moments after the shooting, police said. Cameras only showed a flash and Woolen fall.

Metro patrol officers found Campis’ van on April 4 at a nearby casino and connected it to his name, police said. A search through social media connected the name to his face, which matched that of the man who’d been nearby when Woolen was shot.

Check-in statuses on his Facebook helped detectives place Campis, an Arizona resident, in Las Vegas the day of the shooting, police said. He’d checked in at casinos before and after the shooting.

Detectives encountered Campis sleeping in his van the next day in a Las Vegas casino parking lot, police said.

In an interview that featured inconsistencies, he admitted to being at the shooting scene but couldn’t recall his exact movements, police said. When pressed, “he would only reply ‘he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’”

Detectives did not find a shotgun or ammunition when they searched his van.

Campis was arrested in Garden Grove, Calif., two weeks ago and recently extradited to Las Vegas, police said. He’s booked without bail at the Clark County Detention Center on one count of murder. He's next due in court on Monday.