Sneakers link man to Las Vegas double slaying, police say
A pair of sneakers with a distinct pattern helped police link a man to a double slaying in the central Las Vegas Valley, according to an arrest report.
Las Vegas police said Dae’shawn King, 24, and Edna Reyes, 23, both of Las Vegas, were shot to death while in a vehicle at 12:34 a.m. July 29 on McWilliams Avenue, near Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road. Police subsequently arrested Brian Dewakuku, 22, of Las Vegas, on two counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon in the slayings.
Police said video surveillance in the area showed a man lingering on McWilliams for minutes until a silver Toyota RAV4 with Reyes and King inside pulled up. The man on the street interacts with the people in the vehicle for about seven minutes before the vehicle starts to pull away.
“The unidentified male was then observed firing at least two shots from a handgun into the rear of the vehicle as it drove away,” police wrote in the arrest report.
The vehicle continued to Eastern, where it slammed into a building. King was found dead in the driver’s seat. Reyes died a short time later at an area hospital. Police found five 9 mm casings at the shooting scene.
Police said they observed on video surveillance the gunman walk in the direction of a nearby convenience store after the shooting. The video showed the gunman from a distance, wearing all black and a pair of sneakers with a “distinct cross pattern on the front of the shoe.”
Later that day, police received a phone call from a witness who said Dewakuku claimed responsibility for the killings. The man said Dewakuku was cleaning a firearm and told him “he had killed two people earlier in the day as a result of a ‘bad drug deal.’ ” The witness said Dewakuku also showed the witness a news article about the slayings on McWilliams.
Police arrested Dewakuku that day. Police said they found a 9 mm handgun in his waistband with the serial number obliterated. A search warrant of Dewakuku’s apartment on Smoke Ranch Road produced a pair of Nike sneakers.
“The tennis shoes had the same distinct cross pattern on the front of the shoe as the tennis shoes worn by the suspect on video,” police said.
An examination of Reyes’ phone showed her communicating on Facebook Messenger about a “delivery” with a man later identified as Dewakuku, police said. Dewakuku denied involvement when questioned by police.
Dewakuku is charged with open murder with use of a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for October.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
