17-year-old ID’d as third suspect in fatal Henderson shooting

The third suspect in a deadly drug-related shooting in a Henderson neighborhood last month has been identified in court and jail records.

Josue Giovanni Turcios, 17, was booked June 5 into the Clark County Detention Center. Jail records show he was arrested on charges of attempted murder, attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, although according to Henderson court records, Turcios also faces one count of open murder with a deadly weapon in the May 31 killing of Antoine Daejuan Young Jr., 20.

His alleged co-conspirators, Joseph DeFrancisco, 22, and Tahj Simeus, 16, face identical charges, records show.

The Henderson Police Department has not released the names of Turcios and Simeus even though the pair have been charged as adults in the case.

Katrina Rothmeyer, a spokeswoman for the department, declined on Tuesday to clarify their alleged roles in the shooting.

In the trio’s arrest report, in which both the juvenile suspects’ names are redacted, Henderson detectives characterized the shooting as a “dope rip,” meaning an armed narcotics robbery.

Young, accompanied by a friend, drove to the 300 block of Bright Sumac Court that day in May to sell a quarter-pound of marijuana to the three, the report states.

The report adds that DeFrancisco and one of the suspects lived together in a home on Red Eucalyptus Drive, one block north of the meeting spot in the same neighborhood.

When Young and his friend arrived, DeFrancisco entered the backseat of his gold Acura, and almost immediately, another one of the suspects shot at least twice into the driver’s side window, striking both Young and his friend, who was sitting in the front passenger side, according to the report.

Young attempted to drive away but only made it around the corner to Sweet Sugar Pine Drive before crashing into a parked vehicle. He was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound to his left arm and chest in the driver’s seat of his Acura.

His friend, whose name is redacted in the report, then flagged down officers who were responding to the area to investigate the shooting and was taken to a hospital for treatment. His condition was not known Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the three suspects ran toward Red Eucalyptus, at which point DeFrancisco realized one of the other suspects, who collapsed on the street and dropped the gun, had been shot in the right upper chest.

According to the report, DeFrancisco stayed behind with the injured suspect while the third suspect hid the weapon — a black 9mm handgun — inside a hallway closet before fleeing.

Both DeFrancisco and the injured suspect were taken into custody at the scene. DeFrancisco was booked into the Henderson Detention Center, and the injured suspect was taken to a hospital.

During a later search of the Red Eucalyptus home, police found the handgun in the closet. The head stamps on the cartridges matched those found at the scene, the report shows.

The third suspect, who fled after allegedly hiding the gun, was later arrested at his family’s home on the 300 block of Sapphire Star Circle, less than 2 miles from the scene of the shooting.

In an interview following his arrest, he told police that he had gone to his friends’ home that morning and agreed to go to the meeting with the two, but denied knowing about the robbery, the report shows.

He also claimed that he did not touch the gun “and did not know what happened to it.”

The three suspects, who were being held at the Clark County Detention Center, are expected in Henderson Justice Court on Wednesday morning, records show.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.