Gunman pleads guilty in death of driver stopped in traffic

By Cara McCoy

Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 | 12:36 p.m.

A man arrested in the December shooting death of a motorist stopped in traffic pleaded guilty today to his role in the crime.

Ralph Fuller, 51, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon in the shooting death of Michael McDaniels, who was found in the driver's seat of his vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds at about 8:48 a.m. Dec. 16 near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Owens Avenue.

Court documents indicate Fuller and McDaniels had an ongoing dispute over drugs.

Witnesses at the scene told police the victim was in his vehicle waiting to go westbound on Owens when a man who was also stuck in traffic left a white vehicle, walked up to the victim's vehicle and fired multiple shots into the driver's seat.

McDaniels was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Before he was taken to the hospital, officers found a loaded Ruger .357 revolver in McDaniels’ jacket pocket loaded with six cartridges, records show.

Fuller initially had been charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon. Under a plea agreement, he will be sentenced to eight to 20 years in prison.

His trial was scheduled to begin Dec. 7.

An arrest report indicates witnesses described seeing a white 2000 Chevy Malibu with a front, black decorative bra. One witness gave police the license plate number. The investigation led police to a report of a stolen vehicle from the 3800 block of Pecos Park Avenue in North Las Vegas.

The vehicle’s owner was staying with his girlfriend, who was later learned to be Fuller’s stepdaughter, according to the report.

The vehicle’s owner initially denied to police letting anyone borrow his car but told officers he had recently lost a set of keys. He said he frequently stays at the house with his girlfriend, according to the report.

Cell phone records then linked Fuller to the crime, according to the report. Investigators who responded to the scene of the shooting found the victim’s cell phone. McDaniels, police said, was using his phone until the minute he was killed. Several of the incoming and outgoing calls were to Fuller’s phone number.

Investigators obtained a driver’s license photo of Fuller and his physical characteristics matched the description given by witnesses, the report says.

On Dec. 19, police learned Fuller and McDaniels had been in a dispute over drug-related money allegedly owed to McDaniels. In the early morning hours the day of the shooting, McDaniels had driven to Fuller’s residence, where he lived with his mother in the 2100 block of Travis Street in North Las Vegas, and fired a handgun into the home, a report indicates.

Police learned that McDaniels had allegedly given Fuller about $6,000 to purchase cocaine. Fuller didn’t deliver the cocaine or return the money, police said, which caused McDaniels to become enraged and fire at Fuller’s mother’s home, the report says.

A search of North Las Vegas Police records indicated that a drive-by shooting had been reported at the residence seven hours before McDaniels’ murder. A description of the vehicle allegedly involved matched the description of McDaniels’ truck, police said.

Police recovered the Malibu about a quarter of a mile from Fuller’s home, the report says.

A search warrant was obtained for Fuller’s cell phone and information obtained from that search gave investigators details about Fuller’s location and direction of travel before, during and after McDaniels was killed.

Those records tied Fuller to the residence on Pecos Park about an hour before McDaniels was killed; he was then found to be traveling south from Pecos Park and made calls at about 8:30 a.m. from the area of Owens and Martin Luther King, suggesting he was at that location at the time McDaniels was shot and killed, according to the report.

Fuller’s cell phone records also indicated that five minutes after he called his stepdaughter, her boyfriend called North Las Vegas police to report his car stolen.

On Jan. 5, Fuller was arrested in connection with the crime. He has remained in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.

His sentencing is set for 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 1.