Police arrest man in fatal beating

      A man's kindness may have led to his death, the people who knew him said Tuesday.
      Neighbors described the 79-year-old victim as someone who would give strangers "the shirt off his back."
      Las Vegas police arrested 50-year-old Darnell Parrish in connection with the fatal beating, which occurred about 11 p.m. Monday.
      The victim, whose name has not been released, was known as "Smitty" to fellow tenants in the Momart apartment complex at 920 W. Bonanza Road, just northwest of downtown.
      "He was a special man," said resident Cheryl Diston, 32, who sat outside the management office Tuesday. "He'd feed anybody."
      The victim was one of the longer-term residents of the 221-unit apartment complex, said an apartment manager who would not give her name.
      A model tenant, he was beloved by fellow residents, the manager said.
      She said he befriended Parrish, who was homeless.
      "You want to know the moral to this story?" she asked. "It's a warning to the elderly not to help people out. It's another case of the elderly getting taken advantage of."
      "They're not street-smart," she added. "They're only heart-smart."
      His was the second beating death of a man in Las Vegas in a week. On April 30, Herbert Emma, 74, who lived in an apartment on Unionville Lane, was found stabbed and beaten. Police are seeking his stepson, Aubrey Shelton, 55, who was living with him, for questioning.
      When police got to the Momart apartment complex Monday night, they found Parrish handcuffed and subdued by a security guard and other tenants, Sgt. Ken Hefner said.
      Hefner said an argument preceded the beating, though he did not know what the argument was about.