Man who killed 2 in Las Vegas apartment shooting gets decades in prison
A judge ordered a sentence of 44 years to life in prison Tuesday for a man who fired rounds into a townhome, killing two people and injuring others.
Jurors in September found Clarence Wilson, 54, guilty of second-degree murder for the killings of Tina Jackson, 42, and Mark Cooley, 50. They also found him guilty of attempted murder, battery and other gun crimes.
Wilson previously faced the death penalty but escaped that possibility with the jury’s verdict.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci said that months before the killings, Wilson had left prison after serving a sentence in a voluntary manslaughter case.
“He is a risk that society cannot take,” Pesci told District Judge Jacqueline Bluth.
The judge agreed, saying she could not allow another situation where Wilson could take a life.
In the current case, Wilson shot nine times into a small apartment, the prosecutor said, knowing how many people were inside. Wilson and his girlfriend had traveled to the apartment to pick up his girlfriend’s daughter, Pesci previously said.
They were initially invited in, but a fight broke out and Wilson fired the shots, the prosecutor said during the trial.
Josh Tomsheck, a defense attorney for Wilson, said Wilson did not intend to hurt or kill others. The situation was “unorchestrated chaos,” he argued.
Another lawyer for Wilson, Richard Tanasi, described Wilson as a “good man” with an “extremely troubled past.” He suffered an abusive childhood and was himself shot when he was 15 and again when he was 20, according to the attorney.
Yvette Cooley, the male victim’s wife, said she wanted Wilson to receive the death penalty.
“He destroyed a family,” she said. “I hope this man never gets out.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.
