Suspect arrested in July shooting death of 24-year-old woman
Nearly three months after a 24-year-old woman was dropped off at a hospital with a gunshot wound, the man suspected of fatally shooting her was arrested Friday.
Denzae Cary, 26, faces one count of open murder, according to jail records.
Investigators believe Cary shot Alexis Lay in the back during a party at Cary’s brother’s house that began July 18 and then dropped her at North Vista Hospital around 5:45 a.m. July 19, according to an arrest report from the North Las Vegas Police Department.
Lay’s phone and Facebook messages were tracked to her friend Keandre Sims’ home, but Sims denied involvement in the homicide when he was arrested last month in an unrelated shooting from July 14.
Detectives reviewed a recorded call that Sims made to a Nevada Department of Corrections inmate July 19 in which he discussed the latest shooting and cleaning his bathroom to remove evidence hours after Lay was shot in his apartment, police said.
Sims’ Facebook messages indicate Cary visited from California and stayed with Sims from July 10 to July 19, until he called his wife to take him home after fearing his car was too closely tied to the crime for him to drive it again, according to Cary’s arrest report. Sims’ phone records also show him as being near North Vista Hospital that morning.
Shortly after being dropped off, Lay died from a gunshot wound to the back, the Clark County coroner’s office said.
Cary has no prior violent charges in Las Vegas, but police said a records check showed prior arrests on charges of carrying and possession of a dangerous weapon, burglary, home invasion and fugitive from justice.
He was charged Aug. 19 and arrested on a warrant Friday. He is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court again Nov. 10.
Sims is charged with destroying or concealing evidence related to the death. He is being held on attempted murder charges from the unrelated shooting July 14.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
