Las Vegas police arrest fifth suspect in 2017 shooting death
Nearly two years after Dareon Deas was killed during a drug deal in northwest Las Vegas, latent prints found on his body and a vehicle led to the arrest of a fifth suspect in his death.
Christopher Miller, 22, was arrested Friday on charges of murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary, and conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary.
His arrest comes years after the other suspects were taken into custody. Two of them already have been sentenced for their roles in the killing, court records show.
The 25-year-old victim was found dead in a vehicle on May 11, 2017, at the Bloom Apartment Homes complex, 7075 W. Gowan Road.
Five days later, Las Vegas police made the first two arrests in the case — of Thayron Paxton and William Bogan, both 18 at the time. During their interviews, detectives learned about three other male suspects, including an “unknown tatooed male,” according to their arrest reports.
Ronald Daniels, a minor at the time, was the next to be arrested, in June that year, followed by Lavontay Taylor, then 23, in July.
It wasn’t until March this year that police identified Miller as the “tattooed male,” after results from the latent prints found on the victim’s body and the suspects’ vehicle linked him to the case, according to his arrest report.
All five suspects faced the same charges, court records show.
Bogan was found guilty by a jury on all counts and was sentenced in October to 26 years to life in a state prison, according to the records.
Daniels pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery as part of a plea deal and was sentenced in February to 16 to 40 years in a state prison. Paxton also took a plea deal, although court records do not provide details of the agreement. He will be sentenced later this month.
Taylor’s jury trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 26.
According to their arrest reports, Deas was selling “lean,” the street term for pharmaceutical-grade cough syrup. Paxton told police they planned the robbery because they couldn’t afford the cough syrup.
Deas met Paxton and Daniels in the parking lot of the complex to complete the transaction, while Bogan hid behind a trash can.
Meanwhile, two others waited in a car nearby, ready to flee the scene, police have said.
During the transaction, Paxton aimed a gun at Deas and demanded the cough syrup and his money.
That’s when Bogan, also armed, stepped out from behind the trash enclosure and joined Paxton, according to their arrest reports. Bogan has said his role in the robbery was to ensure compliance from Deas.
When Deas refused to comply, Bogan fired three rounds total.
The men fled the scene immediately and split the cough syrup and about $300 taken during the robbery between the five of them, according to the report.
After Miller’s arrest, he admitted to police that he was with Bogan and the others when Deas was shot and killed, but said he felt his role in the robbery was “minimal.”
“Miller claimed he and others took cough syrup and money from the victim,” detectives wrote in Miller’s arrest report. “As Miller ran away, he reportedly heard the gunshots and later learned Deas had died as a result.”
He was being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center as of Tuesday morning. His preliminary hearing is set for May 20, jail records show.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.