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The 1400 block of Pebble Road in Las Vegas, Nev. (Google Maps).
A Nevada man is being held without bail after being arrested for the alleged fatal stabbing of his own son, who he claimed “fell on a knife.”
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police reported to a call on Dec. 22 at around 1:00 p.m. that a man was suffering from stab wounds to the chest in an apartment on Pebble Road near Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas. The man was Nelson Garcia-Leon, whose age was not provided, and he was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. Near the apartment where Garcia-Leon was found, police recovered a bloody, 15-inch knife, “hastily hidden behind an ice cooler.”
According to court documents obtained by KLAS, a local CBS affiliate, LVMPD homicide detectives began their investigation with a woman whom they referred to as Garcia-Leon’s “girlfriend,” even though they’d only known each other for about a month. She stated that she was more acquainted with Garcia-Leon’s father, Juan Garcia-Hernandez, 81, and that the father and son shared the Pebble Road apartment.
When the woman came back to the apartment after shopping, she observed Garcia-Leon acting unusual and eventually saw blood on his chest. She also reportedly saw a knife on the ground. When she asked Garcia-Hernandez what happened, he allegedly claimed that his son fell on the knife.
As she struggled to dial 911 — apparently dialing extra numbers — she told police that the father “was doing nothing to help” his injured son. When she asked him to go get help, he left the apartment.
Police also interviewed Garcia-Hernandez, who stated that he and his son had gotten into a “verbal altercation” over his son’s drinking. When Garcia-Leon collapsed, the father said that he went looking for help from his neighbors, who helped him move his son into the bedroom. One of the neighbors ended up calling 911, telling dispatchers that the victim’s father said “his son fell on a knife and was bleeding,” noting that the father “didn’t seem stressed at all.”
Once police realized that Garcia-Hernandez’s story kept changing, they started to suspect that he may have been responsible for his son’s injury. Eventually, they found the alleged weapon “hastily hidden behind an ice cooler.” Police records obtained by KLAS showed that Garcia-Hernandez had a number of arrests involving his allegedly threatening others with knives, one as recently as May.
Garcia-Hernandez was arrested and charged with open murder. He is being held at the Clark County Jail without bail. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 9.
