Police make five arrests, seek two in March killing

Jace Radke

Monday, May 21, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

Patient work by North Las Vegas Police and some newfound courage from a neighborhood caught in the crossfire of rival gangs helped investigators make five arrests in connection with the March slaying of a 26-year-old man.

Three men and two juveniles were arrested Friday and charged in the slaying of Joe Williams, who was fatally shot on March 3 at the Buena Vista Springs apartment complex, at Carey Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, North Las Vegas Police Lt. Chris Larotonda said.

"Initially we didn't get a lot of help from the residents there, but we continued to send a lot of officers into the neighborhood to reassure the people that their names would not be used in reports or made public," Larotonda said. "We did get quite a bit of help after that, and we followed tons of tips and leads."

Arrested Friday were Ashley "Face" Bennett, 27, Louis "Chew" Matthews, 19, Lailoni Morrison, 21, and a 15-year-old and 16-year-old whose names have not been released. Two other men are being sought in connection with the slaying. They had not been located by police this morning.

Bennett and Matthews were arrested at the Carey Mini-Mart, 1504 W. Carey Ave., and police took Morrison into custody at an apartment at 2895 E. Charleston Blvd. The 16-year-old was already in custody at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, and the 15-year-old was arrested at his home near the Buena Vista Springs complex.

They have all been charged with murder and are all members of the same gang, Larotonda said. Williams was a member of a rival gang, police said.

Witnesses reported hearing gunfire on the afternoon of March 3, and Williams was found shot several times in front of an apartment at 2535 Morton Ave. He was taken to University Medical Center, where he later died.

"Multiple weapons were used, and there was something like 20 shell casings on the ground," Larotonda said.

About 20 officers from North Las Vegas and Metro police departments made the arrests on Friday, Larotonda said.

The feuding gangs are suspected in the slayings of at least six people, including a church deacon and an innocent bystander, in a three-week stretch in late February and early March. The violence was centered in the area of Martin Luther King between Carey and Lake Mead Boulevard, where the jurisdictions of the North Las Vegas and Metro police departments meet.

"We haven't been able to tie them to any of the other shootings," Larotonda said. "The investigation is continuing, and we are looking into it."

Police aren't sure what started the rift between the two groups, but there are rumors that it may have started with the killing of a gang member in 1999. The two gangs are also suspected of being responsible for the violence that broke out at the Martin Luther King Day parade in downtown Las Vegas in February.