Boy missing after mom found dead

David Kihara

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004 | 10:55 a.m.

North Las Vegas police were searching for a preschooler Monday after they discovered the boy's mother dead in the family's apartment.

The woman -- identified by neighbors as Felicia Crosby -- was found dead about 4:20 p.m. Monday in the Buena Vista Springs apartment complex at 2531 Morton Ave., North Las Vegas Police Public Information Officer Sean Walker said.

Police were unable to locate 4-year-old Denzel Crosby, who apparently lived at the residence, Walker said.

"We need to find this boy," Walker said Monday night.

Police would not release any other details surrounding the circumstances of the death until the autopsy is complete, Walker said.

"I always used to say hi and bye to her when I would see her," said Laurel Waide, who lives several doors down from the dead woman's apartment.

Waide said the woman was a quiet neighbor who rarely had visitors. Waide had only learned about the killing on Monday afternoon after she saw police at her complex, she said.

Waide said her 4-year-old nephew often played with Denzel but did not know the whereabouts of the missing youth.

Another neighbor, who declined to be identified, said that the woman may have died in the apartment as long as a month ago, but authorities would not confirm the dead woman's name or when she died.

It was still unclear this morning how she died or whether she was the victim of a violent crime.

One neighbor, Beatrice Benson, said she came home from therapy and heard from a neighbor about the death.

"A woman who worked at the apartment said she found a woman who had been dead for about two days," Benson said.

Lorenzo Oliver, a 26-year-old neighbor, said "Felicia" lived a quiet life. He said he didn't know what she did for a living or if there were other people besides Denzel living in the apartment.

"We never saw anyone coming in or going out of her apartment," Oliver said Monday.

By Monday night, the only evidence that the police had been at the scene was a lock on the door of the deceased's apartment and a fluorescent red sticker that read, "Warning Keep Out Under Penalty of Law."

There have been numerous shootings in the same block of Morton Avenue, said one neighbor, who identified herself only as Nicole. She said there had been several murders in the neighborhood in the past few years.

"I'm always concerned because we live in a bad neighborhood," Waide said.

Walker said the neighborhood does have a relatively high crime rate, although recent years have seen a "steady decline" in the number of calls to the area, he said.

He would not speculate how frequently officers respond to that neighborhood.

"I don't want to classify any neighborhood as dangerous but our officers handle a lot of calls there," Walker said. "It's been a problem area for the police department in the past but I think it's getting a lot better."

Sun reporters Mary Manning and Stephen Curran contributed to this story.