Las Vegas police seek murder charge against dead man’s girlfriend

Las Vegas police at first believed Gustavo Carcamo was gunned down in a targeted attack while walking with his girlfriend Thursday.

But the investigation instead revealed that he was shot while the couple were robbing a passer-by, according to an arrest report released Monday.

Carcamo, 19, of Las Vegas, was found lying on a sidewalk Thursday afternoon in the 3900 block of East Owens Avenue and was pronounced dead at the scene. He died of a single gunshot wound to his chest, according to the Clark County coroner.

The same day, his 21-year-old girlfriend, Brina Gomez, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on one count each of robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery, jail records show.

But detectives investigating the shooting documented in her arrest report that they “believe the charge of open murder should be considered for Gomez, as Carcamo was killed during the commission of a robbery, which both Gomez and Carcamo were taking part in.”

At the scene Thursday, Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said the deadly incident appeared to be targeted. He said the gun, which belonged to Carcamo, went off during a struggle between him and a man behind the wheel of a brown van.

In the hours following the shooting, Gomez told police that the van pulled up alongside the two as they walked on the street’s south sidewalk. According to her arrest report, she said the driver, who did not get out of the van, said something to her in Spanish before he began arguing with Carcamo.

Police said Thursday that the driver was arrested shortly after the shooting in the parking lot of a nearby gas station, but in the days since, booking logs and court records show that he has not been charged.

After interviewing Gomez and the driver Thursday, detectives determined that Gomez and Carcamo were trying to rob him when the gun went off, according to the arrest report.

Speaking to investigators Thursday, the report states, the driver said Carcamo had flagged him down on Owens Avenue. He said Carcamo then opened the passenger side door and Gomez took his wallet, which was in the center console. The driver told police the woman took nearly $1,400 in cash.

Gomez denied taking money from the driver, but police found a wad of cash while placing her in a patrol vehicle. Officers counted $1,391, which they believe belonged to the driver, the report states.

Court and jail records show that Gomez has not been charged with murder. She is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning for her felony arraignment.

Gomez has a criminal history in Clark County dating to at least 2015. According to court records, she pleaded guilty in two separate cases in August 2015 to attempted grand larceny and unlawful taking of a vehicle.

Carcamo’s death marked the 42nd homicide in Clark County this year, and the 28th gun-related killing investigated by Metro, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal records.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.