Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Suspect in fatal shooting used social media ruse to lure victim, police say

Nicholas Robinson

METRO POLICE

Nicholas Robinson

Hours before the ambush, the suspect asked a woman to friend the victim on Facebook.

As the conversation progressed in the early hours of Oct. 23, the victim, Anthony Esposito, asked the woman for a ride, according to Metro Police.

Esposito had seemingly been talking to his killer instead of the woman, according to the report. “Me and my girl” were on the way to pick him up, one of the last messages read.

The alleged ploy had apparently worked.   

Esposito’s shooter pulled up to the 1700 block of South Rainbow Boulevard in a white SUV, police said. Esposito was captured on video as he exited the business and approached the vehicle.

Esposito, 34, turned to head back into the business but was killed by a man trailing him in a camouflage hooded sweatshirt, police said.

Detectives used Esposito’s Facebook account to identify and arrest Nicholas Robinson, 34, on Nov. 4 on counts of murder, drug possession and trafficking and possessing a gun by a convicted felon.

Police allege the shooting stemmed from a love triangle and a supposed theft, according to Robinson’s arrest report.

Detectives interviewed the woman who’d friended the victim on Facebook who identified Robinson, police said.

The man who drove Robinson to the slaying scene told detectives that the suspect had only said he wanted to “beat up” Esposito “in retaliation for having sex with his girlfriend” and stealing some of his property, according to the arrest report.