A 15-year-old boy was booked into the Clark County Detention Center Wednesday on charges including murder, conspiracy, shooting into an occupied vehicle or structure and attempted murder, according to jail and court records. Dezmond Teate-Edwards faces charges stemming from a fatal shooting at 1:36 p.m. on Feb. 18 in the 100 block of East Rome Boulevard.
Police said Tazzion Benard, Jr., 21, was killed when he was shot multiple times in a Volkswagen Jetta that subsequently crashed into a wall. The North Las Vegas Police Department said the arrest follows an investigation into the shooting, which occurred after a fight involving Legacy High School students. The department noted the investigation remains active and ongoing, limiting the information available for release.
Two other men, Deshawn Pitts and Kali Hines, both 21, have previously been arrested in the case. Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said in a February court hearing that, in addition to Benard, Pitts had fired at a Legacy High School 10th grader who was also in the Volkswagen. Authorities alleged Pitts chased the vehicle in a black BMW before firing 21 shots.
Palal said the dispute originated between high schoolers and that after a fight, the loser ran to Pitts' house. Police later found a handgun and ammunition matching those used in the shooting in the glove box of Pitts' BMW. Pitts' attorney, Garrett Ogata, said during the hearing that Pitts was not driving the car during the shooting and that witnesses would corroborate that.
A police detective testified before a grand jury that Benard was not the intended target and that Hines confessed to the shooting, telling a detective that Pitts summoned him because the fight involving an acquaintance was not fair. Hines' jury trial is scheduled for March, while Pitts' case is pending in District Court. Teate-Edwards is scheduled for an initial appearance in North Las Vegas Justice Court on Friday morning.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
English (US)·