Las Vegas police say fatal stabbing suspect left blood trail
Las Vegas police said the man arrested last week in connection with a fatal stabbing was caught on surveillance footage following the victim to the crime scene.
According to the suspect’s arrest report, he also left a trail of blood leading to the apartment where he was found after the killing.
Joshua Billings, 27, was arrested Thursday and booked on a murder charge in the killing of Las Vegas resident Marcos Rocha, 30.
Police found Rocha’s body near a dumpster in the alley of 1300 Sombrero Drive at around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 3. Police also found multiple bloody footprints and blood droplets leading away from the scene, according to Billings’ arrest report.
Police gathered surveillance footage from the area and identified Billings as a person of interest after watching him follow Rocha toward the crime scene at around 12:30 a.m., according to the arrest report.
They identified Billings by using his player’s card information after watching surveillance footage that showed him gambling at the nearby Bert’s Gaming at around 11:30 the previous night.
Police found Billings on Thursday at an apartment that did not match the address found on his records. They also found blood droplets leading to the front door of the apartment.
When they met Billings, he was wearing the same hat that he was seen wearing in the surveillance video. Detectives said they saw blood on the brim of Billings’ hat and a cut on his right index finger.
According to his arrest report, Billings agreed to be taken to Metropolitan Police Department headquarters and told police there that he was not involved in Rocha’s death.
He also told police that the blood on his hat came from the cut on his finger, which he said happened while he was working in construction the week before. When shown still pictures from surveillance footage, Billings confirmed that he was the person in the images and said he was drunk that night.
Billings is set to appear in court again next Tuesday.
Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MarkCredicoII on Twitter.
