Wife charged in husband’s shooting death near Southern Highlands

A woman is accused of shooting and killing her 37-year-old husband with a shotgun Wednesday in front of their southwest valley home.

Las Vegas police said 25-year-old Ericka McElroy called police at 5:10 a.m. claiming her daughter had shot her husband outside their home at 5020 Upper Falls Court, near Cactus Avenue and Decatur Boulevard.

Officers arrived to find the man dead from a gunshot wound in his chest. Investigators determined that McElroy had been in a domestic disturbance with her husband. She then armed herself with a shotgun and shot him, police said.

McElroy is facing one count of murder with a deadly weapon and is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.

The name of her husband was not released.

A silver Dodge Ram 2500 truck was parked in the driveway of the home Wednesday afternoon, and blood marked the ground where the man had fallen.

The man’s body was in clear view of neighbors.

Fernando Mayorquin said he awoke Wednesday morning to the sound of police sirens. When he stepped outside, he saw the body in the street.

Mayorquin said a woman outside the home screamed, “Go inside, Erica, go inside,” to another woman as officers arrived.

Neighbors said the man and woman were a young couple who liked to hang out in the garage of the home they rented.

Mayorquin said the couple doted on their young son and always waved at neighbors.

“I just met him this weekend, and he didn’t seem like an angry guy,” Mayorquin said of the victim.

The slain man’s son and Mayorquin’s son liked to play together. He had invited the victim to a barbecue this weekend.

The victim told Mayorquin the family had recently purchased a home and had begun packing to move. He said they had lived in their two-story rented home near Southern Highlands for about eight months.

Mayorquin said other neighbors saw the victim come home around midnight Tuesday and hang out in the garage.

He said the couple often had gatherings with friends in the garage, where they listened to music, but were never loud or were heard arguing.

A small floral arrangement and candle were placed in the driveway of the home Wednesday.

Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report. Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.