Prosecutors won’t seek death for man charged in toddler’s killing

Prosecutors in Las Vegas declined to pursue the death penalty against a 27-year-old man accused of killing his girlfriend’s toddler son and later trying to grab a detective’s gun.

Terrell Rhodes has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder in the death of 2-year-old Amari Nicholson, along with two counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon and four counts of resisting a police officer with the use of a firearm.

Amari vanished May 5 from the Emerald Suites apartment complex where he lived with Rhodes and his mother, Tayler Nicholson.

Rhodes initially told police that Amari had been kidnapped. The boy’s disappearance sparked a weeklong community-wide search before his body was found in a nearby apartment complex.

Rhodes later confessed to killing his girlfriend’s missing 2-year-old after the child had wet himself, according to his police report.

After confessing, Rhodes was placed in an interview room at the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters on Martin Luther King Boulevard, where he lunged at a detective and grabbed her gun, police said.

After being disarmed, Rhodes said, “I wanna die,” and “kill me,” according to the police report.

He remains at the Clark County Detention Center, where he is being held without bail.

Rhodes’ defense attorney, Robert Langford, declined to comment on the allegations Wednesday.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.