Woman testifies: Suspect told her he dreamed of slayings

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, June 17, 2003 | 10:59 a.m.

A Henderson woman on Monday testified that Glenford Budd told her he had dreamed of killing three people over drugs the day after three young men were slain in a downtown apartment complex.

During a preliminary hearing to determine whether murder charges against Budd would proceed to District Court, Tracey Richards said she let Budd sleep at her Henderson home on May 27, after she ran into him in front of a fast-food restaurant.

Richards said she had no idea Budd was wanted in a triple shooting that had occurred at the Saratoga Palms II East apartment complex earlier that morning.

The following day Budd, who goes by the nickname A.I., told Richards he had a strange dream, she testified.

"He said 'I had a dream that I killed three people over weed,' " she said. "I said, 'You're crazy,' and I didn't think anything more of it."

Richards, a mother of four, said she met Budd about a year ago when she lived in the apartment complex where Budd also lived.

After Budd relayed the dream, Richards said, he asked her to go to the store to buy him cigarettes. When she went to pick her son up from school later that afternoon, she said, Budd was gone.

"He showed signs of being nervous," she said. "He was smoking a lot of cigarettes."

Prosecutors believe the story Budd relayed to Richards was actually a confession in the shooting that left Da'jon Jones, 13, Jason Moore, 17, and Derrick Jones, 23, dead.

The slayings occurred May 27 at the apartment complex at 2895 E. Charleston Blvd., near Fremont Street. None of the victims was related.

During Monday's hearing before Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo, prosecutors began laying the foundation for their case against Budd with the testimony of several witnesses.

Even Budd's uncle, Winston Budd, grudgingly gave prosecutors information that prosecutors say links Budd to the crime.

Winston Budd said his nephew called him about 3:30 a.m. May 27, saying he needed help.

"He asked me to get in touch with his mother so he could get some money and get out of here," he said.

Winston Budd broke into tears on the witness stand when pressed by prosecutors to tell them what happened next.

"He told me that they were trying to rob him and he said he shot them," he said, holding his head in his hands. "He said he gave the gun to his friend."

When Winston Budd picked up his nephew in Henderson, he testified, the younger Budd had a plastic bag with clothes in it. Winston Budd said he urged his nephew to turn himself in to police.

The 16-year-old brother of one of the victims testified that he was in the apartment when the shooting began.

The brothers lived in the apartment with their mother, he said. Budd, who had moved to Las Vegas from California in December 2002 and whose parents live in Belize, lived in a different building with another uncle and his aunt.

He said his brother was in the bedroom and he was in the living room with Moore and Derrick Jones when Budd entered the apartment and walked into the bedroom.

"He walked into the room where my brother was and closed the door," he said. "I heard two gunshots."

The brother said he ran to the door and told Derrick Jones that the shots were coming from inside the apartment.

"After the first two shots I heard (Budd) say, 'Where my stuff at?' " he said. "I hesitated, and I ran when I heard the third shot."

The brother said he had played basketball with Budd, Derrick Jones and Jason Moore earlier that day. During the game, he said, Budd had separate arguments with Moore and Derrick Jones.

"A.I. had asked Derrick if he took his weed," he said.

He said Budd later got into a dispute with Moore over a foul shot during the basketball game.

"A.I. told Jason he wasn't going to fight him, he was just going to put some slugs in him," he said.

After the game, the brother testified, Budd went to the store to get a drink and had just returned when the shooting occurred.

Metro Homicide detective James Vaccaro said when he arrested Budd, the young man had shaved off the shoulder-length braids he wore the night of the slayings.

Budd told police he'd had a dispute with the victims over a half-pound of marijuana. He said he was in the apartment, but he ran out when he heard gunshots.

Budd then declined to talk further, saying he wanted to speak to an attorney, Vaccaro said.

The preliminary hearing is expected to conclude on June 25 with the testimony of a coroner and an additional state witness.