Trial set for man accused in fatal Tropicana stabbing

By Cara McCoy

Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 | 11:51 a.m.

Tanner Rosseau

The trial date for an 18-year-old man charged in the stabbing death of another man last year in the Tropicana parking lot has been reset.

Tanner Rosseau, of Arlington, Wash., is now set to stand trial Aug. 9 in Clark County District Court. He was arrested May 8, 2009, after a stabbing that left Gregory Dominique, 35, of Cleveland, dead. He is facing one count of murder with a deadly weapon.

When Metro Police officers responded to the scene, Dominique was found with a large cut to his abdomen and a stab wound to his leg, police said. He was taken to University Medical Center’s trauma unit, where he died from his injuries.

According to police reports, Rosseau and a friend, Brandon Carmack, met Dominique outside the Tropicana, which was where the two teens were staying with a group of friends who had traveled from Washington state to Las Vegas for the weekend.

Rosseau and Carmack discussed purchasing drugs with Dominique and a transaction took place, after which Carmack learned he had been left with an empty envelope, police said. A fight ensued. Rousseau, who was on the phone when the fight broke out, assisted his friend by kicking Dominique in the genitals, authorities said.

The teens thought the fight had ended, then Dominique reignited it by hitting Rousseau in the head, police said. Rousseau then stabbed Dominique several times with a folding knife before leaving the scene, police reports said.

About half an hour later, Rosseau turned himself in to an officer driving around the Tropicana looking for suspects, according to the police report.

His trial initially was scheduled to begin in October 2009, but the trial date was vacated while his attorney, James Dean Leavitt, tried to negotiate with prosecutors.

At a hearing today in front of District Court Judge Doug Smith, Leavitt said Rosseau’s family was no longer able to retain him and the public defender’s office was appointed to represent Rosseau in the case.

Rosseau, who has been free after posting $10,000 bail, flew in from Washington for today’s hearing.

Leavitt had suggested previously the stabbing was in self-defense. Rosseau suffered a concussion after being struck by a car in Washington a few weeks before coming to Las Vegas, he told police, and according to the police report, Rosseau told investigators he only grabbed the knife when Dominique began to hit him in the head.