Drug deal leads to homicide in North Las Vegas

A drug deal in North Las Vegas turned into a homicide after a man allegedly shot a dealer in self-defense, according to an arrest report.

On Nov. 11, Demarko Pace agreed to meet his drug dealer outside Pace’s residence near Cheyenne Avenue and Civic Center Drive, according to a North Las Vegas Police Department arrest report. The drug dealer drove up to the location, exited his vehicle where a “tussle” resulted in a shooting.

“It all happened so fast,” Pace, 49, told police.

Officers were later dispatched to an apartment complex near 3300 block of Civic Center Drive in reference to a man lying on the ground after being shot, the arrest report said. A witness told police of hearing the sound of a man being pushed into the security gate when a shot rang out and the gunman fled.

Police found 39-year-old Scott Bevill lying motionless with broken eyeglasses, and robbed of his cellphone or wallet, according to an arrest report. The Clark County coroner’s office pronounced him dead on the scene due to a gunshot wound.

The responding officer also saw a vehicle attempting to leave the area, but it was stopped and questioned by police.

The car was driven by an Uber driver who told the responding North Las Vegas officer that he was picking up someone when a man matching Pace’s description approached the vehicle sweating and out of breath and attempted to get into the vehicle.

The driver canceled the trip after he felt uncomfortable picking him up after not having the correct name and the man walked away, according to the arrest report.

Unable to find the suspect, police said they obtained the cellphone records of Bevill’s number and were able to find out that Bevill spoke to someone before the homicide. Police later confirmed that Pace was the person he was speaking to as he stopped using his phone after the homicide.

On Dec. 29, the Metropolitan Police Department called the North Las Vegas Police Department that they were in Pace’s residence after he called police over a child custody issue using the same phone number North Las Vegas police was investigating, according to the arrest report.

North Las Vegas police arrested Pace on Dec. 30 on suspicion of open murder.

Pace told police he shot Bevill in self-defense after Bevill punched him in the face when he pulled out some cash he had in his pocket. They tussled until Pace saw a gun on the ground, picked it up and fired a single shot from the ground at Bevill, the report said.

Pace never contacted police after his altercation, and no evidence supported his side of the story, according to police. Bevill had no prior history of domestic violence, and those interviewed by police described the victim as a “peaceful man.”

According to court records, Pace was previously arrested for domestic battery with use of a deadly weapon on March 21.

Pace remains in the Clark County Detention Center awaiting a court appearance on Tuesday.

Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0350. Follow @jimi_writes on Twitter.