Man charged with killing mother, sister in North Las Vegas must undergo mental testing

A North Las Vegas man accused of butchering his mother and sister, mutilating one of the bodies with a chainsaw and then living in a house with the decomposing bodies must undergo a mental competency evaluation.

District Judge Linda Bell ordered Darius Sorrells to be sent to Lake’s Crossing Center, the state’s mental health facility in Sparks. Doctors there will decide whether he is competent to stand trial.

Sorrells, 30, was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder for the slayings of Janice Burden, 53, and Natasha Sorrells, 34.

The two women were beaten to death, prosecutors said.

Burden’s body was found “wrapped like a mummy in clear plastic on the floor in the living room,” a North Las Vegas police report said. Natasha Sorrells’ body was in a bathtub. The legs of her body were cut off and found in a freezer wrapped in plastic, police said. Blood was found on a disassembled Poulan brand chainsaw in the home.

Incense may have been used to cover up odor from the decaying bodies.

North Las Vegas police suspect the killings probably occurred a week before the bodies were discovered on March 21 at 6120 Stibor St., near Lamb Boulevard and Tropical Parkway.

Prosecutors said that according to family and friends, Burden and Natasha Sorrells had asked Darius Sorrells to move out and they had grown afraid of him, which could be a motive for the slayings.

Neighbors and relatives of the women told police that Darius Sorrells was mentally unstable.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe