Two jailed in death of suspect in failed jewelry store robbery

The man who killed a 23-year-old robbery suspect during a thwarted jewelry store heist on Tuesday probably won't face charges, but authorities have charged two people alleged to have been the dead man's accomplices with murder in connection with his death.

Las Vegas police arrested 24-year-old Thurman Hall and 19-year-old Miya Mason on Tuesday and booked them into the county jail on numerous charges including robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and murder with a deadly weapon.

Hall and Mason were with Gregory Ford on Tuesday when the group tried to rob the Gold Doctor jewelry store on Mojave Road near Charleston Boulevard, police said. A store employee shot and killed Ford during the attempted robbery, police said.

Hall and Mason's "actions, coupled with the deceased's actions in the robbery, led to his (Ford's) death. Therefore, they're just as culpable," said Las Vegas police Lt. Lew Roberts.

Under Nevada law, a person who commits a dangerous felony -- such as kidnapping someone at gunpoint -- can be charged with murder if a death occurs during the commission of the felony, explained Clark County Deputy District Attorney David Stanton.

Authorities, however, have had mixed success applying the "felony-murder rule" to suspects who have had one of their accomplices killed by a citizen or police during the commission of a crime.

In a high-profile 2004 case, authorities wound up dropping the second-degree murder charges they had filed against Dewan Blackburn and Bruce Bolden in the death of 24-year-old Keith Maurice Williams.

Blackburn, Bolden and Williams were suspects in a series of robberies and home invasions. Police pulled the trio over. One surrendered, but the two others, including Williams, ran, according to news reports.

A Las Vegas police officer shot and killed Williams after Williams pointed a gun at officers near Rainbow Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

A jury later convicted Blackburn and Bolden of multiple counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and home invasion.

In a 2003 case, authorities filed, then later dropped, murder charges against a California man, Taylor Maxie, whose accomplice in a bank robbery was shot and killed by police.

In that incident, Maxie was sitting in a car with 25-year-old Robert Nusbaum, who got into a gun battle with Las Vegas police at an apartment complex near Bonanza Road and Lamb Boulevard.

Officers killed Nusbaum during a shootout on Dec. 31, 2003. During the incident, Maxie ran from police but was arrested with $450 in stolen money, according to newspaper accounts.

Stanton declined to comment on the Gold Doctor case or similar incidents, but said each case is looked at individually.

In general, authorities may drop a murder charge in cases like the Gold Doctor incident if suspects are facing convictions for charges such as kidnapping with a deadly weapon that could carry sentences similar to murder.

And in some cases, prosecutors may have difficulty convincing a jury to convict on murder charges, he said.

On the other side of the issue, homeowners or business people are rarely charged for shooting suspects during the course of a felony because, in almost all the cases, they can make the case that they were defending themselves, authorities said.

During the Gold Doctor incident, several armed suspects entered the jewelry store and began fighting with Zane Houston, a store employee. Another employee, Kenneth Kalbach, jumped on the back of one suspect who was fighting with Houston, according to a police report.

Another suspect then grabbed a third employee, Beatriz Hernandez, put a gun to her head and told her to stay in a bathroom, the report states.

The fight between Houston, Kalbach and the suspects spilled outside, where Kalbach managed to wrest a gun away from Ford, who was on the ground, and warned him to stay down, the police report notes. Kalbach shot and killed the 23-year-old after Ford approached him and tried to grab the gun, according to the report.

Under Nevada law, a person can kill in self-defense or in defense of others. They can also kill someone "in defense of habitation" if the suspect enters a home to hurt another, according to the law.

In 1998, Tom Gaule, a then-42-year-old homeowner, was charged after he shot and killed a pair of burglars.

Gaule fatally shot Jason Lamb, 26, and Ricky Tripp, 35, after Gaule caught them robbing his home in October 1998.

Gaule was later convicted of voluntary manslaughter because he had chased Tripp down the road and shot him. Gaule was sentenced to probation.