Friday, July 18, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.
With six witnesses and four hours of testimony, the state laid out its case Thursday in the May 5 murder of Anthony Limongello.
Natasha Barker, 19, and Aaron Daniels, 20, will now answer to multiple felony charges, including murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping, before a District Court July 24.
Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron also denied Daniels' defense attorney, Christopher Oram's, motion to try the two cases separately, saying a district judge could made that decision.
She did, however, set bail for Barker, who is pregnant, at $50,000 with the stipulation that if it is met, Barker be put on house arrest. Bennett-Haron said she is concerned about Barker's care in the Clark County Detention Center and did not consider her a flight risk.
Before setting the bail, however, Bennett-Haron noted that Barker's involvement in the murder was "serious and the charges are serious."
Barker and Daniels are charged in the slaying of Limongello, a jewelry kiosk owner whose body was found May 5 near trash bins in a Las Vegas shopping center, according to prosecutors Robert Daskas and Giancarlo Pesci. An ATM card was also stolen from Limongello.
The prosecution alleges that Barker set up Limongello for a robbery with the help of Daniels and other unidentified co-conspirators. The investigation is ongoing, so the identity of the triggerman remains to be found, officials said. Police also were scouring a lake at Lorenzi Park Thursday for a weapon.
Barker's friend, Joana Delosreyos, testified to the events leading up to the death of Limongello, whom she also described as a friend. Delosreyos said she had recently moved in with Limongello and had been with him earlier the night he was killed.
Delosreyos testified she received a call late May 4 from Barker, who said other friends had left her stranded and asked for a ride. Limongello drove her in his black 2002 Lincoln Navigator to a 7-Eleven store near Rancho Drive and Owens Avenue to pick up Barker in the early morning hours of May 5, she said.
Metro Homicide detective David Mesinar testified that Barker's call "was a ruse to draw Limongello out," because she knew Delosreyos didn't have a car. He said it was done at the request of Delosreyos' ex-boyfriend.
When Delosreyos and Limongello found Barker she was standing in the parking lot with a man identified as Daniels, Delosreyos said. She then testified that Daniels pulled out a gun and shoved Barker into the back seat of Limongello's Navigator.
"He started pointing the gun at us and told us not to move," Delosreyos said.
On cross examination she faltered on her identification of Daniels, saying it had been dark in the parking lot and she had been awake for five days high on methamphetamines. Daniels' attorney said in his closing statement that he thinks another man was in the parking lot that night.
When the gun was pointed at Limongello and Delosreyos, she said she got out of the car and "took off running." A few minutes later Barker caught up to her.
"She was just telling me to calm down," Delosreyos said. She testified that Barker told her it was a setup and other friends would soon pick them up.
Delosreyos said she did not learn about Limongello's death until later that morning. When questioned by Christopher Oram, Daniels' attorney, she confirmed that she never reported Limongello's death and that hours before a police interview, she had "smoked a bowl" of methamphetamine.
Metro Homicide Detective Philip Ramos testified that Daniels is seen on surveillance tape in a 7-Eleven and at Texas Station with another man who attempted to use Limongello's missing ATM card. Ramos said Daniels told him the man was named Jim and was "a crackhead from his neighborhood."
"He (Daniels) was covering Jim while Jim used the ATM card," Ramos said. Daniels then received $40 of the money Jim was able to take out.
The man Daniels said is named Jim has not been charged and his true identity had not been confirmed, Ramos and his partner at the time, Detective David Mesinar, both testified.
Mesinar said the investigation into Limongello's death is ongoing.
"We hope to make more arrests," Mesinar said. He added that even as the hearing was proceeding, police were searching Lorenzi Park Lake for the .32- caliber gun suspected in the killing.
Prosecutors then brought in two expert witnesses who placed Daniels' fingerprints on Limongello's car.
Daniels' mother, Lisa Daniels, said she didn't know why her son was being charged with Barker and that was why she came to the hearing.
"He don't even know the girl," she said.
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