Police ID body dumped northwest of Las Vegas
The Nye County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday identified the Las Vegas man whose body was found in early March on the side of the road in Amargosa Valley.
He was Levnell Johnson of Las Vegas, according to a sheriff’s office video release posted Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately clear how old Johnson was.
The Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday said the man died after a fight in the Las Vegas Valley. Metro and Nye County officers arrested 33-year-old Cristobal Ortiz-Hernandez in connection with Johnson’s death, and booked him into the Clark County Detention Center on Saturday, police said.
Ortiz-Hernandez faces a charge of murder and remained in the detention center on Thursday without bail, jail records show.
Nye County police were called March 1 to U.S. Highway 95 and state Route 373, in Amargosa Valley about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, after a report of a dead body.
Metro and Nye County police determined that Ortiz-Hernandez and the victim fought at a home on the 7600 block of License Street, near North Buffalo Drive and Farm Road in northwest Las Vegas.
“At some point the victim’s body was taken to Nye County and left on the side of the road,” Nye County Sergeant Adam Tippetts said in Thursday’s release.
Johnson’s cause and manner of death was unknown Thursday.
It was unclear Thursday if police believe Ortiz-Hernandez was the one who left the body in Amargosa Valley, or when the body was dumped there. Further details about his arrest were not immediately available.
Anyone with information about the case can contact Metro’s homicide section at 702-828-3521 or homicide@lvmpd.com. Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
