Police: Woman fatally shot after gunman fired through floor

By Cara McCoy

Published Monday, March 1, 2010 | 12:05 p.m.

Updated Monday, March 1, 2010 | 2:54 p.m.

Hours after a 17-year-old girl was shot Friday in what police described as a gang-related shooting that might have happened at a house party, authorities said a second 17-year-old girl at a house party about five miles away was shot to death.

In the second shooting, police say a man discharged a shotgun into his bedroom floor and the blast struck the girl as she was standing in the entryway below.

Alexander Nestor Portillo, 19, of Las Vegas, is facing a charge of murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the death of the girl, whom the Clark County coroner’s office identified Monday as Priscilla Castillo-Roque, of Las Vegas.

According to a Metro Police arrest report released today, officers responded at about 12:47 a.m. Saturday to a home in the 2100 block of Clancy Street after receiving a report of a woman being shot at a house party. When they arrived, police found Castillo-Roque in the entryway of the home suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died from her injuries.

Witnesses told police Portillo, who lived at the home with his family, had fired two shots, then left the house, the arrest report stated. The first time he discharged his weapon was when he exited the house with a shotgun and fired once into the air to break up a fight in front of the home, witnesses told police. After breaking up the fight, Portillo then went back into the house and went to his bedroom, which was on the second floor, above the entryway, the report said.

According to the report, a witness told police Portillo fired the shotgun once into the floor of his bedroom. Other witnesses who told police they were downstairs said they heard the gunshot and saw Castillo-Roque fall to the ground.

Portillo reportedly ran downstairs and said he shot someone, then left the area with the shotgun and a box of money, police said.

An investigation at the scene yielded two empty 12-gauge shotgun shell hulls – one was outside on the driveway, the second was in Portillo’s bedroom, the arrest report said. The floor of Portillo’s room had a hole surrounded by charred carpet fibers and corresponded with a hole found in the ceiling of the entryway downstairs that had debris pushed outward, suggesting buckshot pellets had exited the ceiling, the report said.

Police said two boxes of 12-gauge buckshots were recovered from Portillo’s room along with marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

A witness contacted police and said Portillo had given him a bag of clothing to hide and said Portillo was hiding with fellow gang members in the 4300 block of Rita Circle. At about 5:30 a.m. Saturday, police responded to the residence and found Portillo with two friends. He was taken to the Metro homicide section, where he declined to speak to detectives, the arrest report stated.

In addition to the charge of murder with a deadly weapon, Portillo is charged with discharging a firearm in a structure, unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a weapon where a person might be endangered.

He is being held without bond in the Clark County Detention Center.

Separately, a 17-year-old girl died from injuries she suffered in a shooting at about 8:45 p.m. Friday in the 2900 block of Beaconfalls Way. She was identified Monday as Jannet Sanchez, of Las Vegas. Police said Friday it’s unknown whether the girl was at a nearby house party, in the street or in a car when the shooting happened.