Man found guilty in stabbing death of girlfriend

Kim Smith

Monday, Jan. 22, 2001 | 10:53 a.m.

After just two hours of deliberations Friday, a Clark County jury found a 22-year-old Las Vegas man guilty of first-degree murder in the February death of his girlfriend.

Desmond Fleming could receive life in prison with or without the possibility of parole when District Judge Jeffrey Sobel sentences him March 13. He chose Sobel over the jury for sentencing.

By their verdict, jurors rejected Fleming's claims that Priscilla Garvin, 18, attacked him on Feb. 13 and the stabbing was the result of a "rash and impulsive act."

Fleming told jurors that the two had begun arguing because he thought Garvin had struck their 1-year-old child in the face.

Police were called to the couple's Bowman Avenue home late Feb. 13 after receiving a call that a woman was being stabbed. When they arrived, they found Garvin with four stab wounds -- two in the back, one near the heart and another in her hip.

Defense attorney David Schieck told jurors that a bite mark on Fleming's chest supports his client's claim that Garvin was the aggressor in their fight.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Abbi Silver, however, reminded jurors that Fleming had pleaded guilty to domestic violence just two weeks before the fatal incident.