Henderson police recommend no charges against off-duty officer who killed man

Henderson police have recommended no criminal charges against an off-duty officer who killed an armed man in a domestic dispute at a Seven Hills home in September, District Attorney David Roger said Thursday.

Henderson police recently submitted to Roger's office the investigation of the incident involving Edward Little, who fatally shot Ruslan Zhgenti, 38, on Sept. 17.

Roger said Henderson police did not recommend criminal charges against Little, who has been with the department since 2008, after concluding it was "a valid self defense case."

Roger said his office is still reviewing the case and has not yet determined what it will do.

"We will review the reports to determine whether an inquest should be held," Roger said. The DA also could file charges without an inquest.

Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul declined comment on the recommendation but said his agency submitted most of its case files to the DA's office about two weeks ago, though there is still more evidence to come. He said that evidence is now being reviewed by an outside agency he wouldn't specify.

Police have given only a minimal description of the incident. They say Little was visiting Sabina Iskenderova at her home at 3039 Via Sarafina Drive at 1:15 a.m. on Sept. 17 when her estranged husband arrived, carrying one of two handguns he owned. While Iskenderova and Zhgenti jointly owned the home, he was living elsewhere at the time, they said.

Little, 32, a North Las Vegas resident, shot and killed Zhgenti with a pistol that was not his duty weapon after "a confrontation,'' police said.

Timur Durdyev, Zhgenti's brother, who was reached by phone in Seattle, said his is concerned that nothing will happen to Little.

Durdyev described his older brother as his best friend, a good husband and a great father to his son, who turned 3 a week after Zhgenti's death. He contends that although Zhgenti and Iskenderova, who were living apart while working out problems in their 12-year marriage, his brother had freedom to go in and out of the Seven Hills home. He had a key, and would often pick up his son from the home, he said.

Durdyev highly disagrees with the police recommendation in the case.

"It was his house and his wife's house. How can it be self defense?" Durdyev asked.

Durdyev said police have told him his brother was shot four times, including once in the head, after he pointed a gun at Little but did not fire at the officer.

Roger said there is no deadline for completion of his review, but it likely won't come before a county panel now studying changes in the coroner's inquest system completes its work and any changes in the system are put in place by the Clark County Commission.

Inquests are a fact-finding process, not a trial. Juries are asked to determine if a homicide is justified, excusable or criminal. The process, as it now exists, has been heavily criticized as biased in favor of police .

Roger said because the panel has been discussing when an inquest should be held, including whether they should be called when an off-duty officer fatally shoots someone, his decision on how to proceed might hinge on its recommendations. The panel's final meeting is scheduled for Monday.

"Obviously, I'm not going to make a decision before Monday," Roger said.