Woman shot to death last week in Henderson identified

At 11:11 p.m. on Thursday, Noah Ray Hadley called 911 to report his girlfriend had been shot by “some random guy.”

But hours later, Henderson police would come across a video on social media — posted by Hadley seven minutes before the 911 call — that would help detectives build probable cause against him.

In the 3-second video, Hadley is seen holding a handgun that investigators suspect was used in 19-year-old Amelia Claypool’s killing, according to his arrest report.

When officers arrived, they found Claypool lying on the ground in a parking lot on the 600 block of Monument Point Street, located inside a gated community near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Paradise Hills Drive. She was surrounded by Hadley and another man, identified in the report as the couple’s friend.

The three had just come from a house party on Monument Point, and Hadley and Claypool were apparently saying goodbye to their friend when the shooting happened, the report states.

Claypool was taken to Henderson Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest about 40 minutes later. Her death has been ruled a homicide by the Clark County coroner’s office.

In the meantime, police questioned Hadley and the couple’s friend separately. At first, detectives were told that the trio had been targeted in a drive-by shooting.

Hadley claimed it happened while the three were sitting inside their friend’s car. Hadley heard a single gunshot, he told police, “and a few seconds later realized Amelia had been shot,” according to the report.

But the couple’s friend said he was standing near his car, with his back turned to the couple, when “he heard a loud bang” followed by Claypool yelling, “Noah!”

Detectives also spoke to Hadley’s mother, who lives in the neighborhood and came outside after hearing the gunshot. She told police that the couple’s friend was acting suspiciously after the 911 call and at one point tried to drive away.

Police then looked through the man’s car windows and saw at least one bullet in the passenger seat and a bloody napkin in the back seat, according to the report.

While at the scene, the man who had thrown the party approached investigators, telling them he had seen Hadley earlier that night with a black firearm. Then he pulled up the video, which was posted to Hadley’s Snapchat account.

This prompted police to search the man’s car, at which point they found a gun hidden underneath the driver’s seat. Inside the chamber was an expended case, according to the report.

The pair was transported to Henderson’s main police station for more questioning. There, police confronted the two with the new evidence.

Hadley stopped talking at the mention of a video, the report states, but the couple’s friend admitted to hiding the weapon.

He maintained that he did have his back to the couple when the gun went off, but in this version, when he turned around, Hadley “thrusted a handgun towards him,” according to the report.

Hadley hadn’t asked him to hide the gun, but the man told police that Hadley’s actions were “consistent with that of a desperate request to hide or get rid of the gun.”

That’s when he shoved it underneath the driver’s seat, he said, adding that he had initially lied to police because he was scared.

By 3:35 a.m., police had arrested Hadley on one count of murder with a deadly weapon. Court and jail records indicate that as of Monday afternoon, the couple’s friend had not been arrested in connection with the case.

Police spokeswoman Katrina Rothmeyer declined Monday to say whether he would face charges, citing the department’s ongoing and open investigation.

Hadley remained held without bail Monday at the Henderson Detention Center awaiting his arraignment Tuesday morning, records show.

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