Fourth person charged in beating death of man, 82

By Mary Manning

Friday, Aug. 14, 2009 | 11:34 a.m.

A fourth person has been arrested and charged in the July beating death of an 82-year-old man.

North Las Vegas Police arrested 19-year-old Marquell Javon McAlister about 6:15 p.m. Aug. 4 at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Cartier Avenue and learned he was wanted by Henderson police in the death of Wesley Roberts.

McAlister allegedly participated in the beating of Roberts on July 24 at the man's home on Cervantes Drive in a gated Henderson community near Sunset Road and Valle Verde Drive.

McAlister said he helped grab a TV, a video camera, a 35 mm camera and a safe containing military papers.

Police said that Mickey M. Thomas, 26, of Las Vegas, and two girls, ages 15 and 16, also were arrested in connection with the incident.

Each had been charged with attempted murder, but after Roberts died on Aug. 3, all face murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery and burglary charges. McAlister faces the same charges.

Thomas had been in prison and was on probation at the time, a police report said. Law enforcement records also indicate that Thomas is a registered felon for possession of a firearm and for robbery.

The girls asked Roberts to drive them to the Old Navy store on Spencer Avenue in Henderson, police reports said. Then, Thomas and two other men followed the man and girls back to his residence, where the attack took place.

The Clark County Coroner's Office said the cause and manner of Roberts' death is still pending. Henderson Police are continuing to investigate the death.