Suspect in May homicide on Strip rebooked on murder charge

The man accused of punching another man in the face May 3, knocking him unconscious in Paris Las Vegas' valet area and killing him, was already in jail for an unrelated incident when he was charged in the beating, Las Vegas police said Wednesday.

Metro officers were called about 4:20 a.m. May 3 to the valet area of Paris Las Vegas, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South, to investigate reports of an injured man. The man, who police said had been in a fight, was found lying in the valet area suffering an apparent head injury.

The injured man, 27-year-old Dashawn Antwon-Fouch Hawkins, of San Jose, Calif., was taken to University Medical Center where he died of "blunt head trauma," the coroner's office said. His death was ruled a homicide.

When police identified 23-year-old De Angelo Mathews as a suspect in the fatal fight, they learned he had been arrested in September and was already being held at the Clark County Detention Center on unrelated charges, Metro wrote in a release Wednesday.

Mathews was arrested Sept. 8 and charged with one count each of home invasion with a deadly weapon, first-degree conspiracy to commit kidnapping and robbery with a deadly weapon, detention center logs show.

He was rebooked Tuesday in connection with the May homicide and faces one count of open murder, the release said.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber