Suspect arrested in 2018 fatal shooting in northeast Las Vegas

A 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting in September 2018 in northeast Las Vegas, according to jail and court records.

William Gatica was booked Monday into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of open murder, conspiracy to commit murder and discharging a gun into an occupied structure or vehicle. He was being held without bail, the records show.

Las Vegas police have said that around 10:20 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2018, Gerardo Baladran-Romero was found suffering from a gunshot wound to his head in a parked vehicle on White Cedar Drive, near East Alexander and North Pecos roads. At the time, police said a bystander had reported seeing someone in a vehicle shooting into another car.

Baladran-Romero underwent surgery at University Medical Center, where he later died, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. He was 24.

It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday how police identified Gatica as a suspect, but about a month after the shooting, police had released surveillance photos of a pickup truck seen in the area around the time of the shooting.

Court records indicate that Gatica has a codefendant in the case, although his alleged co-conspirator was not listed in the records as of Tuesday morning.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.