Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Suspect in sledgehammer killing case held without bond

20190830_Sledgehammer Killer Court

Christopher DeVargas

36-year-old Clinton Taylor, suspected of randomly bludgeoning a woman with a sledgehammer, makes his first court appearance Friday Aug. 30, 2019, at the Las Vegas Justice Court.

Clinton Taylor

Clinton Taylor

A man accused of killing a woman with a sledgehammer was ordered held without bond today in what a prosecutor described as a “shocking and depraved” case of almost unspeakable violence.

Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Ann Zimmerman rejected a defense attorney’s request for house arrest, describing the suspect, 36-year-old Clinton Taylor, as a “danger to the community.”

The victim was alone at a laundromat about 5 a.m. Thursday when she called 911 to report a suspicious man carrying a sledgehammer outside the business in the 1000 block of Rancho Drive, Metro Police Lt. Ray Spencer said.

Before she could say anything else, the dispatcher heard screaming and the cell phone call went dead, Spencer said. Police traced the phone to the laundromat, where they found the victim and Taylor nearby carrying a bloody sledgehammer, he said.

Taylor was taken to the Clark County Detention Center and booked on a count of open murder, police said.

“I don’t think I need to tell this court just how shocking and depraved this case is,” Clark County Deputy District Attorney Peter Thunell said today. “The violence is almost unspeakable.”

The name of the woman, a customer at the laundromat, has not yet been released, police said.

Taylor told police investigators he had “smashed” two people, but no other victims have been identified, Thunell said.

Shackled and wearing blue jail garb, Taylor talked to the judge through a glass panel in a small basement courtroom. Asked if he worked, Taylor talked aobut owning a dog and selling clothes. Asked where, he mentioned something about stores.

His public defender, Marissa Pensabene, described Taylor as a longtime Las Vegan and graduate of Palo Verde High School who has a home and family. She said he has no prior felony convictions.

Taylor’s next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.