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Man arrested in Lake Las Vegas killing tells police victim raped him

Updated November 28, 2023 - 12:14 pm

A 25-year-old man charged in a Lake Las Vegas fatal shooting told police that the victim had raped him, according to a Henderson Police Department arrest report released Monday.

Devonte James Bowman faces a charge of murder with a deadly weapon in the death of 54-year-old Adrian Longoria.

Officers responded to the 20 block of Montelago Boulevard, just east of Lake Las Vegas Parkway, at 6:40 p.m. Nov. 20, to find a man who had been shot in the chest.

The man, identified by the Clark County coroner’s office as Longoria, was pronounced dead at the scene.

When police looked at what was on Longoria’s phone, officers found a text conversation between Longoria and a person who identified himself as Devonta. Bowman, according to court documents, is also known as Devonta.

On Oct. 31, Longoria received a text that said, “Bossman its Devonta I got a new phone and I literally just out of the county jail.”

Henderson police detectives learned that Bowman had in fact been released from the Clark County Detention Center at 3:20 a.m. on Oct. 31.

According to Metro arrest records, Bowman had been arrested on a misdemeanor weapons charge. Las Vegas Justice Court records show that on Oct, 30, Bowman was ordered released by Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Rebecca Saxe after no probable cause was found.

In a Nov. 20 text conversation, according to the report, Bowman “accuses Adrian of raping him the last time Devonta had come over.”

The arrest report, which was released by the Henderson Justice Court, did not indicate whether Bowman told authorities that he had been assaulted before Longoria was killed.

In an interview with Henderson police investigators, Bowman said he met Longoria after buying a Volvo from him at Car Spot, a Boulder Highway dealership, a few months earlier. The two started hanging out, and Longoria said he could use his connections to get Bowman into the music industry, the report stated.

Longoria eventually asked Bowman “if he could do things for sexual gratification like rubbing Devonta in different locations on his body or smelling his back.” In exchange, Bowman told police, Longoria would help Bowman with vehicle payments.

A few weeks earlier, Bowman told police, he went to Longoria’s condo, and the two were hanging out in the Jacuzzi and drinking when Bowman blacked out. When he awoke, he told police, according to the report, he was naked on the floor of Longoria’s home and vomiting.

Bowman alleged that Longoria was “behind him and attempting to anally penetrate” him, the report stated. Bowman said he blacked out again, and when he woke up, he got dressed and left.

Later, the report stated, Bowman went to University Medical Center for a S.A.N.E. examination, which refers to an exam by a sexual assault nurse examiner.

Asked if police viewed Bowman’s allegations as credible, or not, Henderson Police Department’s Office of Public Information said in an email that because the case is still an open investigation, no further information would be provided.

When Longoria told Bowman that Bowman was behind on his car payments, Bowman went to Longoria’s work and “confronted him about not helping him out with the payments after what he has done for him,” the report stated. Bowman left and said in texts that he was going to report Longoria for raping him and sue him. Longoria then asked Bowman to come over to his place to talk, the report stated.

When the two met at Longoria’s condo Nov. 20, according to the report, Bowman shot Longoria in the chest, police said. Bowman said that he had brought his handgun for protection.

After they had started talking, Bowman went to the bathroom and emerged with the handgun and told Longoria that he was going to “confess to what Adrian had done to him,” the report said. Bowman pulled the slide back on the handgun, loading a round into the chamber, and took his phone out to record Longoria, Bowman told police.

When Longoria got up and started yelling and walking toward Bowman, Bowman shot Longoria in the chest, Bowman said, according to the report.

About 20 minutes later, according to police, Bowman drove to the front of the Car Spot dealership, where he had bought the Volvo. Bowman got out of the car, started shooting into it, then ran to his girlfriend’s apartment, police said.

Bowman was taken into custody on Nov. 21.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.

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