Las Vegas police hunt for clues in fatal shooting of man on way home from work

Heriberto Marcial Diaz was seven houses away from home the morning police said he was robbed and shot dead.

The father and husband had just left work as a porter at the Paris Las Vegas.

He had just stepped off a bus on East Lake Mead, headed for bed.

And he had just reached the corner marking the start of his small, east-valley neighborhood Saturday when a group of young men swarmed him, robbed him, shot him and fled.

Diaz tried to keep walking. With a single gunshot wound, he made it about 10 feet before collapsing and dying just after 1 a.m.

The only thing taken was his cellphone.

"He was completely innocent," Metro Homicide Lt. Dan McGrath said of Diaz on Thursday morning, standing on that same street corner — off Marion Drive and Grande Mirada Way, just south of Lake Mead — and addressing media. "This is unacceptable."

Diaz was his family's sole provider, and his wife and children, 12 and 17, are now alone, McGrath said.

"There's no 'Oh, he shouldn't have been there,' " he said. "There's nothing we can say. He did absolutely nothing wrong."

The suspects — who may be linked to a handful of other street robberies leading up to Diaz's death — were described as four or five black men, about 18 to 20 years old, maybe younger.

"If you are one of those people, one of those young men; if you did not pull the trigger on this, and you were present — you need to come forward," McGrath said. "We have very good detectives; we have a high solvability rate. If we have to hunt you down and find you, you may be charged with murder."

Though homicide detectives did not have a concrete lead as of Thursday, McGrath said they are reviewing tips and surveillance footage from homes and nearby businesses.

Behind the spot where McGrath and other officials spoke with media, a small memorial with flowers and candles sat on the sidewalk where Diaz took his last breaths.

Police said Diaz's death may be linked to the other robberies because they were similar in method of operation, happened in the same area and happened around the same time of day, though this one escalated into gunfire. They also said the randomness of Diaz's murder was disturbing.

"In homicide, we have varying degrees of cases, and when somebody's completely innocent, on his way home — as anybody could be — it's really troublesome to everybody from the sheriff on down," McGrath said.

— Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby