2nd man arrested in death of Dotty’s manager

A second man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the death of a Dotty’s manager who tried to stop a robbery.

James Holmes, 54, was booked on murder, robbery of an elderly person and conspiracy to commit robbery, according to jail records.

An arrest report for his accomplice, Samuel Schmid, 28, said Holmes sat inside the Dotty’s at 6142 W. Flamingo Road messaging Schmid about a woman who won about $30,000 inside the casino on May 11.

“Shes white very skinny 55-65 years old,” Holmes wrote in a message to Schmid, according to the arrest report.

Police said Holmes was using his player’s card in the casino and Schmid left his phone at the scene, which showed the messages between the two.

Video from the scene showed Schmid pulled up to the casino in a black Mercedes-Benz SUV, parked in the handicap spot and was inside the casino for only a few minutes. Witnesses said he ripped the purse from across the body of a woman and ran into the parking lot, according to the arrest report.

Dotty’s manager Alicia Gibellina, 60, ran into the parking lot to stop Schmid and was run over. She died an hour later from blunt force injuries, the Clark County coroner’s office ruled.

Holmes has a criminal history in Las Vegas dating back to 1998 when he pleaded guilty to theft, according to Clark County District Court records. He was sentenced to probation and in 2002 sentenced to probation again after pleading guilty to burglary.

He was arrested for drug possession five times from 2003 to 2020, and in 2018 he was sentenced to probation again after pleading guilty to grand larceny.

Holmes is now being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.