Two arrested in December death of Henderson man

Julius Edward Zavalza and Jose Valle, both 21, were taken into custody without incident just before noon Tuesday at a home near Vegas and Rancho drives, police said. Authorities didn’t say what lead them to Zavala and Valle.

Henderson firefighters and police responded at about 10:30 a.m. Dec. 23 to a single-family home in the 100 block of Holly Tree Court, near Anthem Parkway and Hampton Road. When firefighters observed smoke coming from the house and entered to fight the fire they found Walter Zhongcheng Wu unconscious in a bedroom.

Wu was taken to St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus, where he died from multiple stab wounds to the head and neck and asphyxia. His death was ruled a homicide by the Clark County coroner’s office.

Wu’s 2015 Toyota 4Runner was missing from the Anthem home, where he lived with his mother. The vehicle was found Dec. 26, abandoned at an apartment complex near Boulder Highway and Flamingo Road.

Henderson spokeswoman Kathleen Richards declined to detail the relationship between the three men but said it appears the victim knew the suspects and the killing was not random.

Detectives used forensic and digital evidence to connect the two men to Wu’s death fairly quickly, she said.

Richards couldn’t comment on motives or evidence because the men have not gone to trial yet.

Zavalza and Valle are being held at the Henderson Detention Center without bail. Both men face charges of murder with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and first degree arson.

Valle was convicted of a misdemeanor battery charge in 2013. Zavalza pleaded guilty to a possession of marijuana charge in September.

Their scheduled court appearances were not available on court databases Tuesday evening, but the men will appear in the Las Vegas Justice Court because they are being charged with felony crimes, Richards said.

According to their Facebook profiles, the two suspects live in Las Vegas, where Valle went to Chaparral High School and Zavalza went to Las Vegas, Del Sol and Mojave high schools and College of Southern Nevada.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber.