Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Reality TV personality ‘devastated’ by link to Strip shooting case

Oxygen Network reality show star Tasha Malek wants people to know that in this case, she isn’t the bad girl.

On Tuesday, Metro Police mistakenly released several photos of Malek in its search for Tineesha Lashun Howard, who had been wanted for questioning in last week’s high-profile Strip shooting. She was ruled out as a person of interest late Wednesday.

Police believed Howard, who also goes by Yenesis Alfonzo, was in the car with triple murder suspect Ammar Harris when he fired several shots into a Maserati on Thursday as the vehicles drove on Las Vegas Boulevard. The Maserati then crashed into a taxi. Three people died in the incident.

The photos, which were pulled from Harris’ Facebook page, were intended to help people identify Howard. Instead the photos have led many to believe Malek, who made her name on Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club,” was somehow involved.

“She is devastated,” said Malek’s lawyer Michael Grieco. “She is partially a victim of circumstance and partially a victim of reckless police work when comes to public information.”

Grieco said one of the photos of Malek posing with Harris in the car was taken when they lived in the same Miami apartment complex two years ago. He said Harris and Malek were friends, but she was not involved.

Grieco said she had been in the Bahamas at the time of the shooting and had no idea what happened. It wasn’t until she received a text from her friend late Tuesday night that she realized photos of her were being used.

Metro Police issued a statement Wednesday clarifying the mistake, but Grieco said the damage was done.

“All they saw were pictures of my client with names not hers being talked about as a prostitute and witness to triple homicide when she was in Miami at all times,” Grieco said.

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