Police report: Las Vegas man fatally beat father with baseball bat

After killing his father with a baseball bat, Richard Heron Jr. skipped town for Thanksgiving and left the man's decomposing body inside his condominium for more than a week, according to a Las Vegas police report released Tuesday.

Police accuse Heron, 32, of fatally beating his father, Richard Heron Sr., on the night of Nov. 18 , the report said. But it wasn't until Sunday that the younger Heron's conscience began eating at him.

He first admitted to the killing by texting ex-girlfriend Jennifer Hornsby, "I'm so sorry." When she got him on the phone Sunday, his words were less cryptic, the report said.

"I killed my father," her ex-boyfriend told her.

The report said the younger Heron took a bus to his mother's hometown, Sheridan, Ark., on Nov. 19.

He told Hornsby on Monday that he was turning himself in to police in Arkansas.

That is when Hornsby drove near the elder Heron's condominium and hailed an officer. She told officers to check his home at 1900 N. Torrey Pines Drive, near Lake Mead Boulevard.

Officers found the father's body in the kitchen. He had suffered blunt force trauma to his head. The blood-stained wooden bat was next to him .

A Metropolitan Police Department detective called police in Arkansas on Monday and spoke with the victim's son.

He asked for a lawyer but said that he killed his father after his father struck him in the head with the bat, according to the report.

The younger Heron lived with his father.

"I remember grabbing the bat from him and hitting him back," the son told the detective.

Police also spoke with a neighbor who heard a "loud crash" followed by a "loud bang" about 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 18.

The woman said she heard a voice yelling " Dad" and " Daddy" over and over again.

About 30 minutes later, she saw the younger Heron come out of the apartment. He walked away casually, which made her think there was no reason to call police, the report said.

The suspect is awaiting extradition proceedings. He is being held on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon.

The investigation into the father's death is ongoing. Anyone with information may call the Metropolitan Police Department's homicide section at 702-828-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.