1 man, 1 woman ID’d after triple homicide
Two of the three people shot dead in a small apartment kitchen Monday night near downtown Las Vegas were identified Tuesday afternoon by the coroner's office.
Police found Charlita Lashunda Carroll, 35, and Morty Cornell Young, 37, dead about 5:50 p.m. inside the 205 Jackson Ave. apartment, near Owens Avenue and D Street in the historic west Las Vegas neighborhood.
In what Metro Capt. Robert Plummer called a "senseless" shooting — possibly related to a drug robbery — Carroll was shot in the head and Young was shot in the neck and head, the coroner's office said. There was no fight, evidence showed, and both were left to die alongside another person, whom the coroner has not yet identified.
At the scene, police said a 6-foot, 4-inch black man wearing all black was seen approaching the apartment from a nearby alley shortly before the shooting and running away afterward. A witness also saw an older, dark red or burgundy van with a tan stripe along its side pull up before the shooting and drive away afterward.
Justice Court records showed one of two people identified, Young, was sentenced in 2013 to a minimum 19 months in jail for drug trafficking. It's unclear when he was released.
But at a press briefing about three hours after the shooting, Plummer said the area had been quiet recently. And on Tuesday, Metro spokesman Officer Larry Hadfield said drug operations in the neighborhood had been "snuffed out."
The shooting was one of the deadliest homicides this year. The only other time three people were killed was in March, when a man shot three people dead before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide incident just east of Summerlin.
Narcotics and gang intelligence detectives are involved in the investigation of Monday's shooting, said Metro spokesman Officer Jesse Roybal. The FBI Violent Crime Task Force also has offered to assist, he said.
"We are doing our best and working all angles to solve this extremely violent crime," he said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcorsby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby
