Slain man opened his door to killer
Santos Mercado was known as a man who would open his home to family and friends.
On Thursday morning, opening his front door proved fatal.
The 45-year-old construction worker was shot twice, once in the stomach and once in the shoulder, by an assailant after Mercado opened his door about 12:30 a.m.
The sounds of his barking Chihuahuas and rustling outside woke Mercado, family members said.
Mercado's longtime girlfriend and his teenage daughter were startled awake by Mercado's screams, they said.
They found him bleeding profusely in his bathroom.
He died several hours later at the University Medical Center.
Las Vegas police had no suspects in the slaying Thursday afternoon.
Police said the incident was similar to an attempt on Mercado's life five weeks ago.
Sgt. Russ Shoemaker said a man opened fire on Mercado in March, as Mercado was preparing to go to work in the early morning.
In that incident, the assailant made it inside Mercado's house and fired several shots but missed him.
"We suspect the incidents are related," Shoemaker said. "We have no indication there was any criminal activity on his part at all. We have no indication he wasn't doing anything except working hard every day."
More than 20 members of Mercado's extended family gathered Thursday at his one-story house on Harris Avenue near Lamb Boulevard.
They described the Mexican immigrant as fun-loving. The chubby Mercado loved to host family and friends on weekends and serve traditional Mexican dishes or barbecue.
Maria Bonal, Mercado's girlfriend of 17 years, spoke in Spanish about her frustrations with not knowing who was responsible for his slaying. Bonal, 45, said neither she nor Mercado's 16-year-old daughter, Carla, saw the shooter.
"You can never prepare for a death. It was unexpected."
Carla, a sophomore at Rancho High School, said Mercado was beaming a few days ago because she had brought home a good report card.
Evidence of Mercado's early morning struggle were present throughout his house.
Family members pointed to smeared blood on the hallway walls leading to his bedroom. Blood had splattered near the bottom of a bathroom door. Holes, apparently the result of shotgun blasts, peppered his bedroom door.
Family members also pointed to similar pellet marks on a kitchen wall, from the shooting in March.
Mercado and his family moved into the house in December.
Bonal's 23-year-old son from another relationship also lived in the house. He was working during the shooting.
Mercado and Bonal had lived in Las Vegas for more than a decade, Bonal said.
Family members said the house's previous residents were drug dealers.
Some, including Bonal, believed it might have been a case of mistaken identity on a drug deal gone bad.
However, a niece of Mercado's, Rosa Ramirez, said Mercado began receiving calls from a former girlfriend in September. Ramirez said the woman, with whom Mercado had a relationship 10 years ago, kept asking to meet Mercado in odd places at night.
Neighbor Saul Saucedo, 35, also said Mercado's house was once a drug house. He said people would go in and out throughout the day, but that stopped when Mercado's family moved in.
Saucedo, who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years, described the area as a place where petty crimes occur, but rarely something as serious as a slaying.
"Nowadays, you don't know what's going to happen," he said.
Police encouraged anyone with information to notify Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or the police homicide section at 838-3521.
Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.
