Police: Man fatally stabbed outside Las Vegas IHOP

A 24-year-old man was fatally stabbed in the back of the head with a pick-like object this month, and another man is jailed in the attack, police said.

Anthony Reed, 52, of North Las Vegas, was charged with murder after he was captured on video surveillance appearing to stab a man on Aug. 13.

Darius Stokes was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where he died the next day, according to Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Larry Hadfield and the Clark County coroner’s office.

Stokes went to IHOP, 1809 Las Vegas Blvd. South, with his co-workers at around 3:30 a.m. Aug. 13. As some from the group were seated inside, they noticed Stokes was not with them. One of them went outside and found him in the parking lot unresponsive, according to a Las Vegas police arrest report.

Hospital staff initially believed he had suffered a brain aneurysm which caused him to fall. Police reviewed surveillance video which showed Reed swing at the back of the victim’s head while holding a sharp object that became stuck in Stokes’ head until Reed violently pulled it out, according to the report.

Police found a small break in the victim’s scalp the size of the tip of a pen.

Reed was seen leaving the parking lot in a car that police said belonged to his sister. After investigators tracked him down, Reed told police that he punched Stokes to defend his sister from verbal abuse outside the IHOP.

Reed was on parole in a murder case in California at the time, according to the report.

“I am not a stabber, I shoot,” Reed told police, according to the report.

Reed is due in court on Sept. 26. As of Thursday morning, he remained in custody without bail.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.