Friday, Dec. 14, 2018 | 7:45 p.m.
Sheyland Barnett
Soon after the fatal confrontation, testimony from a man’s associates convinced detectives that he’d been victimized when he showed up to escort his frightened cousin from her south Las Vegas workplace.
Soon after, the alleged attacker, Sheyland Barnett — who’d supposedly threatened the woman a day prior to the Dec. 5 killing — sat in handcuffs, accused of murder.
The mugshot of the 32-year-old was plastered on local media outlets. Meanwhile, a TV news story hailed Galean Simon, 38, as a “hero.”
Barnett had made the threats, he’d grabbed a knife, he’d attacked, he killed — he’d also wounded the victim’s wife — all while two young children sat in his car, Metro Police initially said.
But then another story emerged.
And a Las Vegas Justice Court judge on Thursday dismissed the charges of murder and battery with a deadly weapon, ordering Barnett to be released from jail, court logs show.
“State put on the record that after further investigation they believe that the defendant acted in self-defense,” a note on the logs reads. Authorities will continue to investigate and “may pursue charges against certain individuals.”
Barnett’s attorney, Michael I. Gowdey, said his client had walked free from the Clark County Detention Center early Friday afternoon.
Gowdey also outlined how the four-day court process was the shortest he said he’s ever needed to fight a murder case.
There had in fact been a confrontation on Dec. 4, and threats had been made, according to Gowdey said.
But they were made by the other side.
Barnett’s girlfriend and Simon’s cousin worked together in an office in the 6800 block of Bermuda Road, south of Sunset Road.
Barnett’s girlfriend had personal issues, so Barnett had talked to her co-worker about her possibly being an enabler to his girlfriend, Gowdey said.
But, according to Gowdey, the woman did not take it well, and she screamed and threatened to fight, Gowdey said.
Then came correspondence to Barnett’s girlfriend’s email account from her co-worker, Gowdey said.
She’d deleted them, but the message had been something along the lines of, “the call has been made already” and “you don’t know who I am, Google my name … you’ll find out that I can have you killed,” Gowdey said.
Investigators unearthed the messages, and prosecutors used them to drop their case, Gowdey said.
Barnett and his girlfriend related a different series of events.
Simon’s cousin left work before Barnett’s girlfriend, but stuck around, Gowdey said. Barnett’s girlfriend warned that she’d seen her, but by the time he pulled up to pick her up — accompanied by two children, ages 2 and 5 — he saw a group waiting in a car, Gowdey said. He’d assumed the woman was making good on her promise.
Both cars stopped, according to Metro Police. The group exited one, Barnett sat in the other.
The group began to scream and pound on Barnett’s car, Gowdey said. Someone tried to kick in a window.
Barnett was left with no feasible choice and decided to grab a small knife, Gowdey said. He got out and was immediately “swarmed” and attacked, the lawyer said.
Barnett then swung his knife, striking Simon seven times, and Simon’s wife twice, police said.
Barnett and his girlfriend drove away, got on the phone with police and arrived at a Henderson hospital where he was treated for superficial injuries, Gowdey said.
The couple related their account of self-defense to a different group of police officers, and homicide detectives initially only heard from the other group, Gowdey said.
Metro had later told Gowdey that there were holes in the initial accounts provided by Simon’s associates, he said.
Their version, according to Gowdey, was that Simon’s cousin had been stalked by Barnett and had called family members to protect her.
