Report details events leading to officer’s fatal shooting

By Cara McCoy

Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 | 6:31 p.m.

New details emerged Monday in the shooting death of Metro Police Officer Trevor Nettleton with the release of an arrest report in the case.

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 Thursday. Nettleton, a three-year Metro Police veteran who had just returned from work, wasn’t in uniform and the garage door was open, authorities said.

Five young men have been arrested in connection with his death.

A North Las Vegas Police arrest report indicates that the circumstances surrounding the crime began to unfold for police when one of the teens charged in the crime, 18-year-old Prentice Marshall, admitted to investigators that he shot Nettleton.

Marshall, who is facing gang enhancements on charges of murder with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, was shot in the testicles in an exchange of gunfire at Nettleton’s home and was first confronted by police at University Medical Center, police said.

He was arrested in the hospital’s trauma unit at about 12:21 a.m. Thursday, according to the report.

Marshall told the responding officer that he lived in the 1100 block of Cliffbrook Hedge Avenue, which is in the same area as Nettleton’s home. When police went to Marshall’s reported address, they encountered Saul Williams Jr., 20.

Williams told police that he and Marshall had been victims of an attempted robbery and in the course of that robbery, Marshall was shot. Marshall later admitted to police they had made up that story and that he and Williams had tried to rob Nettleton, the report says.

Marshall admitted being involved in Nettleton’s shooting and said he and Williams ran away after the incident, according to the report. Williams was arrested at about 6:52 a.m. Thursday.

Eventually, both Marshall and Williams admitted in police interviews to playing a part in the murder and attempted robbery of Nettleton, the report says.

Williams is charged with murder with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Through interviews with the two men, police learned a third person, identified Monday as Adrian Pena, 17, also allegedly was involved.

Marshall told police that the gun used in the crime was thrown in the vehicle with Pena when he left the scene, according to the report.

Officers contacted Pena’s mother, who told them she knew about the shooting and said her son told her he was with one of the suspects at the time, the report says.

Pena was found at the Lucky Club Casino, 3227 Civic Center Drive, where he was arrested at 2:29 p.m. Friday. He is being charged as an adult with crimes of murder with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery.

At the time of Pena’s arrest, responding officers learned from a coworker of Pena’s that he had told the coworker about the crime. The coworker said he saw Pena was in distress and heard him say he had done something bad with some friends.

The coworker then asked Pena if he had been involved in the shooting; Pena responded by nodding his head up and down and saying, “maybe,” the report indicates.

Pena was booked into juvenile detention but has been transferred to the North Las Vegas jail, as he is being tried as an adult. His vehicle, which police said was the getaway car, has been impounded.

On Saturday, police interviewed Quadre Scott, 18. He told police he had been in the car with the three who were arrested but left before the shooting occurred. After talking with Scott, police again interviewed Williams, who told them Pena was driving and Marshall was in the passenger’s seat. Williams said he and Scott were in the back seat.

Williams said the group was returning to his home when they saw the open garage door and Nettleton inside. Williams said he and Scott remained in the vehicle while Marshall and Pena got out. After Marshall and Pena exited the vehicle, the shooting started, Williams told police.

Police then re-interviewed Scott, who told them he was a Wood gang member, the report says. During the interview, he first denied being with his friends when they allegedly confronted Nettleton, but later admitted to being present. He denied exiting the vehicle or shooting anyone, according to the report.

Scott is facing charges of murder with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement and conspiracy to commit robbery, police said.

As the investigation continued, police learned that Williams contacted his stepbrother, Emmitt Ferguson, 18, from the North Las Vegas jail and allegedly asked him to conceal the murder weapon. A preliminary search of Pena’s vehicle and the home on Cliffbrook Hedge had yielded no firearms, according to the report.

Over the phone, Williams told Ferguson to take the “H,” meaning “heat,” from the “B,” meaning “bathroom,” and put it in the “A,” meaning attic, a report indicated.

A search warrant was obtained and firearms were discovered hidden in the attic of the home on Cliffbrook Hedge. Ferguson has been arrested in connection with being an accessory to murder.

Ferguson told police in an interview that he told Williams the gun was safe and nobody would find it, the report says.

Authorities have said that Marshall and Pena allegedly robbed an 18-year-old North Las Vegas resident at gunpoint near the intersection of Cheyenne and Simmons roads less than an hour before the shooting that killed Nettleton, but further details of that incident haven’t been released.

Scott and Ferguson are scheduled to appear in North Las Vegas Justice Court at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday via videoconference. Marshall, Williams and Pena appeared Monday morning.

All five remain in custody in the North Las Vegas Detention Center.

Visitation services for Nettleton, 30, a three-year veteran of the Metro Police department, are scheduled from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Palm Mortuary, 6701 N. Jones Blvd. A prayer vigil is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday.

A funeral Mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church, 1811 Pueblo Vista Drive. Burial will follow at Palm Mortuary and Cemetery Northwest, 6701 N. Jones Blvd.

The Injured Police Officers Fund has opened an account for Nettleton's family at Nevada State Bank. The account number is 602027542.

Nettleton is survived by his wife, a 2-year-old boy and 2-month-old girl.