Man arrested in shooting on highway

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | 11:05 a.m.

A 25-year-old man arrested Monday in California is charged in the April killing of a woman on Interstate 15 near Charleston Boulevard, Metro Police said this morning.

Kashif Spratt, 25, of San Bernardino, Calif., mistook the victim for a person he fought with earlier at a Las Vegas Strip nightclub, police said. Metro Lt. Tom Monahan said Spratt had gotten into a confrontation with a man earlier at the Ra nightclub at the Luxor and wanted to retaliate.

Spratt allegedly is the person who fired shots at a black Chrysler driven by Rochelle Carter, a 37-year-old mother of five, as she drove along the highway just south of U.S. 95 on April 29. Carter was shot in the head, lost control of the Chrysler and crashed into a wall.

The intended victim with whom Spratt had argued was a man, Monahan said. Carter's windows were so darkly tinted that she couldn't be seen from the outside.

"We don't know whether it was a mistaken car, or if he (the intended victim) was a male friend of hers," Monahan said.

Authorities said shortly after the shooting that the car was often driven by Carter's 40-year-old boyfriend, Mario Andre Phillips, who was subsequently arrested on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of methamphetamine.