Man with ties to Mayweather’s Las Vegas gym suspected of murder
Las Vegas police have accused a man with ties to boxer Floyd Mayweather’s Las Vegas gym of killing a volunteer at the gym before dumping the body near the Nevada-California border.
The Metropolitan Police Department has named 54-year-old Abdul Musawwir Mohammed, also known as Carlton Burnett, as a suspect in the shooting death. An arrest report says the volunteer was shot early Aug. 25 in or near Mohammed’s Las Vegas apartment and his body was later concealed under a bush and rocks in the California desert.
“(The) body was then driven into California and hidden in the desert to hinder and delay any potential murder investigation occuring in Las Vegas,” the report said.
Prosecutors charged Burnett with murder with a deadly weapon.
Jail and court records refer to Mohammed as Burnett, but police said he goes by Mohammed.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies received a call of a man’s body about 4:45 p.m. Aug. 27, the arrest report said. The report said the body was found just over the California border on Nipton Road, about a half-mile east of Interstate 15. It was partially decomposed and had been shot several times.
Department homicide detectives determined the man was dumped at the site. He was found wearing an “access wrist band” for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight in Las Vegas, the arrest report said, leading investigators to think he was in Las Vegas for the Aug. 26 fight prior to his death.
The report identified the deceased as Randall Smith of California. Mohammed said he knew Smith as “Baldy,” according to the police.
A person who knew Smith confirmed to police he was in town for the fight, and he frequently slept on a man’s couch while visiting Las Vegas, the arrest report said. Police later identified the address as Mohammed’s and said he cut hair out of his residence.
Through the course of their investigation, Metro Lt. Dan McGrath said Saturday, detectives learned Smith was a volunteer at Mayweather Boxing Club, near Spring Mountain Road and Valley View Boulevard. McGrath said Mohammed also had unpaid ties to Mayweather’s gym.
Multiple YouTube videos appear to show Mohammed and “Baldy” Smith praising Mayweather, with others showing Mohammed sparring inside the Las Vegas gym. One video from January 2013 appears to show Mohammed identifying himself as a barber with the gym.
Multiple requests for comment from Mayweather’s public relations team were not returned.
According to the report, police received multiple calls of gunshots about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 25 near Mohammed’s apartment in a neighborhood near Twain Avenue and Arville Street. One caller reported hearing two men argue prior to the gunshots, but responding police never found a crime scene.
Detectives visited a redacted address Aug. 31 and searched for bullet impacts, blood or casings but couldn’t found any, according to the report. They smelled cleaning supplies and noticed the front porch had lingering soap bubbles from a recent wash. Police saw a sign advertising $10 haircuts in the window.
According to the report, phone records detailed several calls between Smith and Mohammed’s phones placed just before 1 a.m. Aug. 25 near Mohammed’s apartment and incoming calls to Mohammed’s phone about the time of the reported gunshots.
An incoming call to his phone pinged off a tower in Nipton, California, about 5:20 a.m., the report said, and an outgoing call 11 minutes later placed him near Jean, Nevada. Another outgoing call about 6:15 a.m. placed him back in the area of his Las Vegas apartment.
Mohammed last saw Smith when the man visited Mohammed’s apartment Aug. 25, he told Metro in a Sept. 20 interview. Detectives asked what time that was, and Mohammed ended the interview, the report said.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.
