Of all the homicides Las Vegas police responded to in 2024, the case of Lina Pi Gill stood out to Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Robert Price.
On Feb. 4, 2024, the Las Vegas Fire Department received a 911 call after a neighbor of 69-year-old Gill found her and believed she had fallen, according to Price and Metro’s website.
Gill, who lived in an apartment at 1270 Burnham Avenue, near East Charleston Boulevard and South Eastern Avenue, had a head wound and was transported to the hospital. A CT scan found an object in her head that turned out to be a bullet, Price and Metro said. She died about three weeks later.
During the last weeks of her life, Gill was in and out of consciousness and could not identify a suspect, he said.
“We’re trying to figure out what took place and the leads are very, very slim on that case,” said Price, who oversees Metro’s homicide section.
Police continue to investigate. Earlier this month, officers were out knocking on doors and seeking information about the case, according to Price.
Despite challenges with a handful of cases like Gill’s, Metro boasts a high clearance rate with 95.62 percent of 2024 homicides considered solved, likely the highest rate in several years, according to Price. And homicides continue to trend down, following a national decline. The number of 2024 homicides in Clark County was the lowest since 2019.
By the numbers
According to data from the Clark County coroner’s office, 172 people were slain in Clark County homicides in 2024. Of those, 66 were Black, 39 were Hispanic and 48 were white, the data showed.
County spokesperson Stephanie Wheatley said the county does not have an official total because some cases are still pending, but based on police data, there were 186 homicides in Henderson, North Las Vegas and Metro’s jurisdiction.
That’s the lowest homicide rate the county has seen since before the pandemic.
There were 233 homicides in 2023, 234 in 2022, 247 in 2021, 204 in 2020, 149 in 2019 and 223 in 2018.
The local decrease mirrors trends in other metropolitan areas.
According to a report by the Council on Criminal Justice, the homicide rate in 29 U.S. cities increased between 2019 and 2021 but has since declined.
Ernesto Lopez, a senior research specialist at the Council on Criminal Justice, said some research shows that the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the trends, but that possible explanation is complicated by the fact that homicides also increased before the pandemic started.
Whatever caused the spike, “as we move away from that we’re returning back to normal,” he said.
Metro reported 109 killings it classified as murders plus 27 self-defense or justified killings for 2024, Price said, as well as a case with which the department assisted in another jurisdiction. Those numbers do not include fatal police shootings; there were nine in 2024, compared to five fatal shootings in 2023.
In 2023, Metro had 141 murders and 31 justifiable homicides, according to department statistics.
Price thinks the decrease is driven by “team effort” in the agency and community, from patrol officers enforcing laws to members of the public calling in crimes, he said.
North Las Vegas and Henderson
Lt. Ann Taylor, who oversees the North Las Vegas Police Department detective bureau, said the city had 29 homicides in 2024, compared to 31 in 2023. There were only 22 homicide incidents in 2024, she said, but in some cases, multiple people died. Those figures include self-defense killings, but not police shootings.
The city had two fatal police shootings in 2024, she said.
Taylor attributed the decrease in homicides to diligent work by detectives and collaboration with other agencies.
The Henderson Police Department declined an interview request, but said in an unsigned, emailed statement that 10 people died in nine 2024 homicide incidents. The city had 12 homicides in 2023.
Concerns about domestic violence
Eric Adams, 47, is suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend’s daughter and her girlfriend, Kayla Harris, 24, and Jeanette Faria-Webster, 22, as well as neighbors Christopher Damian, 20; Amy Damian, 40; and Damiana Munoz, 59; at two apartments on Casa Norte Drive in North Las Vegas on June 24.
Adams then killed himself.
Taylor said the slayings “stemmed from domestic violence. That just shows you how a domestic violence situation can escalate and then other people start getting encompassed.”
She said her department has seen a “statistically significant” rise in domestic violence killings. In 2023, nine people died in homicides tied to domestic violence in North Las Vegas, she said. There were 12 domestic violence homicide incidents in 2024 with 15 victims, she said.
In another high profile North Las Vegas case, a 12-year-old girl was accused of stabbing her father, James Waldie, to death. The girl’s attorney, Jon Chagoya, said she has been found incompetent and proceedings in her case are suspended.
‘Leading cause’ of slayings investigated by Metro
Although Metro has seen a decrease in the number of killings tied to domestic violence — 22 in 2024 versus 35 in 2023 — Price said domestic violence remains “the leading cause of our murders that we worked in 2024.”
Frequently, there is a history of violence leading up to the killing, he said.
Liz Ortenburger, CEO of domestic violence prevention organization SafeNest, said she believes Clark County has one of the country’s highest rates of men killing women.
She blames inadequate services for domestic violence survivors, cases frequently being pleaded down or dismissed when survivors recant or don’t show up and a proliferation of guns.
“We’re kind of a perfect storm for domestic violence homicides to continue rising with our population growth unless we start to make some changes as a county,” she said.
Henderson police said they did not classify any homicides as domestic violence slayings “although many involved individuals shared a domestic relationship with the suspect.”
Clearance rate
Metro, North Las Vegas and Henderson all tout high clearance rates.
Price said Metro has solved 95.62 percent of 2024 homicides. Taylor said the North Las Vegas department has an 86 percent clearance rate for 2024 homicides. Henderson said its department had no unsolved homicides in 2024.
Henderson police and Metro said they consider a homicide solved when authorities have identified a suspect.
North Las Vegas police consider a case cleared when the homicide is determined to be a murder-suicide and the killer is dead, a homicide is found to be in self-defense or police have issued a warrant or a suspect has been arrested, according to Taylor.
“The message that we want people to know is that you’re not going to get away with a homicide in North Las Vegas,” she said. “We’re going to relentlessly pursue the suspects.”
Victim’s friend awaits answers
Leesa Weist still waits for answers about what happened to her friend Kristen Avelar, 46, who was found in a luggage bag near Spencer Street and East Reno Avenue in October, according to Metro, which said there is not currently a suspect.
Weist said she and Avelar were part of a group of gamblers who hung out at Miz Lola’s, a small gaming bar near the intersection of Blue Diamond Road and Decatur Boulevard. They met there in about 2013.
Avelar was smart, “bubbly” and “very outgoing,” Weist said, but spiraled after her marriage fell apart.
But the last time they spoke, about two years ago, Avelar seemed unhappy, she said.
Weist learned from another friend that Avelar had been slain.
“For them to just leave her body like that, it makes you not trust anyone,” she said. “They had no respect for her as a human to just leave her.”
If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Lifeline network at 988. Live chat is available at 988lifeline.org. Additionally, the Crisis Text Line is a free, national service available 24/7. Text HOME to 741741.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X. Former Review-Journal reporter Estelle Atkinson contributed to this report.
