6 charged in Metro officer’s death appear in NLV court

By Cara McCoy

Published Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 | 9:50 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 | 10:31 a.m.

Six alleged gang members charged in the murder of a Metro Police officer were arraigned this morning in North Las Vegas Justice Court.

Saul Williams Jr., 20, Prentice Marshall, 18, Quadre Scott, 18, Adrian Pena, 17, Michael Ferguson, 25, and Emmitt Ferguson, 18, appeared in front of Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl. The men are charged in the shooting death of Trevor Nettleton, a Metro officer who was killed in the garage of his North Las Vegas home on Nov. 19.

Pena is being charged as an adult.

Nettleton, 30, was confronted in his garage in the 1100 block of Emerald Stone Avenue near Lone Mountain Road and Donna Street shortly after midnight, just after returning home from work. The three-year Metro veteran wasn't in uniform when he was shot — first in the leg, followed by a fatal shot to the chest, authorities said.

A preliminary hearing for the six co-defendants was set for Dec. 17.

The group is alleged to belong to the Woods gang. Police officers armed with assault rifles and other weapons flanked the entrances to the court. About a dozen officers as well as friends and family members of both the victim and the accused sat in the courtroom for the proceedings.

Williams, Marshall, Scott and Pena are charged with one count each of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang; as well as one count each of conspiracy to commit robbery; burglary while in possession of a firearm and attempted robbery, all with criminal gang enhancements.

Emmitt Ferguson and Michael Ferguson are facing charges of accessory to murder with gang enhancements.

Williams, Marshall, Scott and Pena are being held without bail; Emmitt Ferguson's bond was set at $500,000 but he remains in custody. North Las Vegas Detention Center records show Michael Ferguson is being held without bond on the accessory charge as well as on separate charges of battery domestic violence and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The criminal complaint against the men charges that Pena acted as a lookout, a getaway driver and provided the firearm used in the crime; Scott also allegedly acted as a lookout; Marshall, armed with a gun, and Williams, are said to be the two who entered the Nettletons' garage. Marshall, the complaint charges, pulled the trigger and Williams attempted the robbery.

Emmitt Ferguson and Michael Ferguson allegedly aided in concealing the gun used in the crime, according to the complaint.

The details of the crime were further outlined in an arrest report released last week.

The arrest report indicated Marshall, who was shot in the testicles during an exchange of gunfire in Nettleton's garage, admitted to police that he was the gunman.

It also indicated that Emmitt Ferguson knew the gun had been used in the crime; the complaint says he aided the other four by concealing it at the request of Williams, his stepbrother.

Nettleton was laid to rest last week after a funeral procession that spanned the length of the Las Vegas Strip. He is survived by his wife, a 2-year-old son and 2-month-old daughter.