Suspected killer fled with other man after Aliante slaying, police say
The North Las Vegas Police Department on Saturday said the man accused in a killing at a casino Thursday morning was not alone when he fled the property.
In a video released Saturday night, North Las Vegas police officer Roberto Vaquera said Aerion Warmsley, 19, was with another man when he fled the Aliante hotel-casino early Thursday morning after a man, later identified as Na’Onche Osborne, 23, was found shot to death on the Aliante casino floor.
Vaquera said the other man, who was dressed in all black, fled before police began a high-speed chase that crisscrossed the Las Vegas Valley, but after the pair had carjacked a woman’s SUV.
A North Las Vegas police spokesperson said Saturday that the second man had not been arrested. In the video, Vaquera said “there are no outstanding subjects” related to the case.
Vaquera said Warmsley is alleged to have texted “do you want to die?” to a female on Wednesday before driving to her home, though he left before police could question him.
Na’Onche Osborne, of North Las Vegas, died from multiple gunshot wounds, the Clark County coroner’s office said on Saturday. He was the son of former North Las Vegas state senator and mayoral candidate Pat Spearman.
North Las Vegas police said the department received reports of a shooting at Aliante, near the 215 Beltway and North Aliante Parkway, around 4:30 a.m. Thursday.
On Friday, authorities identified the suspect as Warmsley.
Warmsley is facing one count of open murder with a deadly weapon and one count of robbery with a deadly weapon, authorities said. Vaquera said additional charges related to alleged crimes in the Las Vegas jurisdiction are expected.
In addition to the shooting, police said, Warmsley is accused of carjacking at least three vehicles, causing multiple crashes.
Warmsley was taken into custody after a high-speed police chase that crisscrossed the valley, authorities said.
During the chase at least two people were injured. One was hospitalized in critical condition after the vehicle Warmsley was driving slammed into a bus stop near Tropicana Avenue and Boulder Highway, police said.
The vehicle was traveling at about 105 miles per hour at the time, police said. Warmsley was apprehended Thursday morning by Metropolitan Police Department officers near Sahara and Boulder Highway.
Spearman did not immediately return a message left Saturday afternoon.
Ozzie Fumo, an attorney for the Spearman family, released a statement via text message that said in part that Osborne’s passing is “an unimaginable loss for the senator and their family, and they are heartbroken.”
“At this moment, the family kindly requests that their privacy be respected so that they can mourn in peace,” Fumo wrote in the text message. “They are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers and condolences from friends, colleagues and the community.”
Spearman served as a Democratic state senator for Nevada’s Senate District 1, which includes a portion of North Las Vegas, from 2012 until 2024.
Spearman ran to be the city’s mayor in 2022 but lost to North Las Vegas councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed Spearman before the election.
A few hours after Osborne was shot dead at Aliante, the hotel-casino also served as the venue for the mayor’s annual State of the City address. The two events were completely unrelated, according to North Las Vegas police.
In her speech, Goynes-Brown did not publicly address the homicide.
Earlier troubles
In October 2022, when Osborne was 21, he was arrested after police said he shot his cousin at Spearman’s home, near West Elkhorn Road and Aviary Way in North Las Vegas, not far from the casino where he was shot to death.
Spearman, who said she had adopted Osborne when he was a teenager, spoke about the incident at a press conference on Oct. 22, 2022, one day after the shooting, and said Osborne made a “very poor decision.”
Osborne pleaded guilty to one felony count each of battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm and carrying a concealed firearm or dangerous weapon, according to District Court records.
The cousin, who in his 40s at the time, was shot in the hip and taken to University Medical Center.
According to a North Las Vegas Police Department arrest report, Osborne shot Spearman after an argument over Osborne blowing marijuana smoke into the face of a 5-year-old boy.
The same report stated that he had allegedly made multiple threats to shoot members of the Spearman family and on one occasion — separate from the October 2022 incident — Osborne allegedly fired a gun through a wall into a room that was occupied.
Osborne, according to the report, had post traumatic stress disorder stemming from “trauma from his childhood.”
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X. Review-Journal Digital Content Producer Madelon Hynes contributed to this report.
