15-year-old arrested in stabbing death of man

Jen Lawson and Mary Manning

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

Metro Police arrested a 15-year-old boy early today in connection with the fatal stabbing of a man in a west Las Vegas gated community home.

Mark Ford had been questioned earlier in the evening after neighbors said they had seen a teenage boy speeding down the street on a motor scooter shortly after the stabbing, Metro Lt. Tom Monahan said.

"At the time, we didn't have sufficient evidence to hold him," Monahan said this morning. "After processing the crime scene, we found other evidence that linked him to the crime."

Detectives arrested Ford about 2 a.m. at his home several miles away, in the 5500 block of Cactus Thorn Avenue, near Lindell Road and Hacienda Avenue.

Ford was charged with murder with a weapon and burglary and was booked into Clark County Detention Center, police said.

The crime isn't considered a home invasion robbery, Monahan said. It appears Ford broke into the victim's home to burglarize it, found the victim inside, and then stabbed him, Monahan said.

Monahan wouldn't comment on motive, saying his concern is evidence, not motive.

He said: "The only people who care about motives are journalists and lawyers."

So do the people who live in the victim's neighborhood. It doesn't appear that Ford knew the victim, and it's not clear why Ford chose the victim's house to burglarize.

The stabbing happened about 3 p.m. in the Wellington Park gated community, near Grand Canyon Drive and Sahara Avenue. The victim had called 911 saying someone had broken into his home and was stabbing him, Monahan said.

When officers and paramedics arrived a few minutes later, the caller was dead, police said.

The Clark County coroner's office said this morning the victim's name was being withheld pending family notification.

It was the second homicide in three weeks for the middle-class area around Peccole Ranch, which until recently hadn't experienced much violent crime, police and residents said.

On Feb. 3, Carol Miller, 58, who lived on Robinson Ridge Drive near Sahara and Fort Apache, disappeared after she left home for her nightly walk.

Her strangled body was found two days later near Interstate 215 and Far Hills Avenue. A necklace and other jewelry she had been wearing had been stolen, police said.

Police handed out fliers to drivers in Miller's neighborhood a week after she disappeared, hoping to pinpoint where she was last seen. Monahan said this morning police didn't receive any helpful leads, but the investigation is continuing.

A reward is being offered by Miller's friends for information leading to the killer's arrest. The reward was $48,500 Tuesday morning.

Monday's killing does not appear to be related to the Miller case, Monahan said.

Residents of a northwest Las Vegas neighborhood said Monday night that they were terrified after hearing about the latest homicide.

"I'm scared to death. I live alone," said Morgan Neilson, who lives near Sahara Avenue and Hualapai Way.

Another neighbor, who refused to give his name, said, "I'm shocked. You could hear a pin dropping on this street."

Samuel Ever has lived in the neighborhood with his wife and 20-month-old daughter for a year. He said he his home has an alarm system, but it doesn't do much to ease his fears.

"When I came home just now, the gate to my backyard garden was wide open," Ever said. "'I heard rumors that someone was in the neighborhood. It freaked me out."

"My wife is home all day with my daughter, and she wakes up at every little sound at night," Ever added. "All I'm going to be thinking about is she is going to be alone."