Murder trial set for man in F Street apartment shooting

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, Aug. 29, 2011 | 2:12 p.m.

A trial date has been set for late October for a man accused of fatally shooting another man after an argument last month at an apartment complex in West Las Vegas.

Marcus Washington, 25, is scheduled to go to trial on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon Oct. 31 in Clark County District Court for the slaying of Robert Hicks, 43. Hicks' lifeless body was found at 4:44 p.m. July 24 with a gunshot wound to the neck in the courtyard of Island Court Apartment, 1416 F St.

Washington is being held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.

According to Metro Police, homicide detectives found two witnesses to the shooting.

One of the witnesses, who wasn’t identified, reported seeing Hicks, known as “Red,” and two of his friends standing in the courtyard in a heated discussion with a man who the witness described as being a black male in his early 20s and close-cut hair, wearing a red T-shirt and blue sued tennis shoes.

The witness told police that the suspect told Hicks he was “bringing a lot of heat to the area,” the police report said.

The suspect then yelled back at Hicks he was “fittin' to air this out!” the police report said.

The suspect walked into Apartment 13 and came back out holding a black semi-automatic handgun, the witness told police. The suspect then fired several shots at Hicks, the witness told police. Police said the witness then ducked and didn’t see where the suspect went.

Detectives said when they went to Apartment 13 to interview a second witness, that witness said “Lil Marcus” got into an argument with Hicks, walked into the apartment and came back outside. He then reached under his shirt, pulled out a gun and fired several shots, the police report said. That witness identified Washington as “Lil Marcus.” That witness didn’t know where Washington had gone, police said.

Police said they served a search warrant three days later, on July 27, at 300 Madison, where they took Washington into custody