Man accused in Las Vegas slaying had made plea deal in battery case
On Nov. 13, Jose Escamilla signed a plea deal, admitting that he’d committed battery on a police officer by putting the officer in a choke hold after police responded to a report of someone with a knife near a playground.
Under his agreement with prosecutors, he was sentenced to “credit for time served,” two days in his case, and another battery count was dismissed.
Just six days later, the Metropolitan Police Department said, Escamilla stabbed a man to death.
The Clark County coroner’s office has identified the victim, initially listed in records as a “John Doe,” as Antonio Chambers. He was 32 and died from sharp force injuries, according to Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for the Clark County coroner’s office.
At 11:46 a.m. on Nov. 19, police received a call from an off-duty Bureau of Land Management ranger who reported a stabbing near East Lake Mead and North Hollywood boulevards.
The victim, who had “sharp force injuries” in the middle of his chest, his left flank and the left side of his back, was transported to University Medical Center and pronounced dead, Metro said in a report. Escamilla, 33, was arrested a day after the killing and faces an open murder charge.
The prosecutor and public defender listed on Escamilla’s plea documents in the recent battery case did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. Recorded messages on general numbers for the public defender’s office and district attorney’s office said they were closed.
According to police, Escamilla’s violent criminal record also includes a 2005 arrest on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in a shooting that was possibly gang related and a 2014 incident in which he held a sheathed machete to a convenience store clerk’s chest and told her to “open the register or you’re dead.”
North Las Vegas Justice Court records indicate the 2005 case was dismissed on a defense motion.
The ranger who called 911 had been training at Metro’s range off East Carey Avenue and was driving when he saw two men fighting on the north side of Lake Mead near a bus stop, according to Escamilla’s Metropolitan Police Department report. One of them wore a green leprechaun hat.
Police said the ranger told them that one of the men was swaying and not completely engaged. He fell forward from the sidewalk to the asphalt, the ranger said, and didn’t get up. The other man stood over him, made a punching motion downward to his left side and walked away, the report said.
At the scene, investigators found a bloody shirt and jacket, a glass pipe with residue, a screwdriver and a box cutter, according to the report.
Surveillance video showed a man throwing his sweatshirt into a dumpster and concealing something in a rock pile where detectives later found a folding knife, according to Metro.
A call from a tipster pointed to Escamilla as a possible suspect. Security footage from before the killing showed him leaving his house wearing the same clothing police saw in later video, Metro said.
When he was arrested the day after the slaying of Chambers, police said he had blood on his shoes and shirt.
“Jose appeared to be under the influence and(/)or mentally ill,” according to the report. “He was uncooperative and incomprehensible.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.