Anna Trevino leaves a candle at a makeshift memorial during a vigil for Amari Nicholson, 2, in front of the Emerald Suites on Paradise Road Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Terrell Rhodes, 27, the boyfriend of Amari’s mother, has been arrested on a murder count in connection with Amari’s death.
Friday, May 14, 2021 | 3:46 p.m.
Eleven months before 2-year-old Amari Nicholson was found dead, the Clark County Division of Child and Family Services investigated a child neglect allegation at his home, but the child was deemed safe, agency records show.
The agency, which on June 10 received a report alleging neglect, closed its investigation a month later after determining there was no merit to the accusation, the records show.
“The family was determined not to be in need of services and the child was deemed safe,” officials wrote in a report.
Terrell Tavoris Rhodes, the boyfriend of the boy’s mother, was arrested Tuesday on a count of murder in Amari’s death, according to Metro Police.
Rhodes, 27, said he hit Amari on May 5 because the boy wet his pants, according to police. He was watching the boy while his mother, Tayler Nicholson, was in Colorado, police said.
Rhodes tried unsuccessfully to resucitate the boy before disposing of his body, which was found about 400 feet from an extended-stay hotel where Rhodes, Nicholson and Amari lived, police said.
Rhodes was due in court today to answer for eight additional felony counts stemming from his arrest but did not appear for medical reasons, according to Las Vegas Justice Court records. Rhodes fought officers and briefly got ahold of one of their guns, police said.
Besides the murder count, he was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on four counts each of resisting an officer using a gun and assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon. The additional charges were filed Thursday, logs show.
