Police say the man accused of robbing and killing an elderly woman on her morning walk in the western Las Vegas Valley committed two similar armed robberies of pedestrians in the weeks leading up to the killing.
Devion Teague, 24, of Las Vegas, is charged with first-degree murder, robbery, and other charges in the May 12 killing of Hester Johnson, 75.
The Metropolitan Police Department said Johnson was walking with a friend just after 5:45 a.m. near West Flamingo and South Fort Apache roads when a gunman approached, robbed the women and shot Johnson in the chest.
Johnson died at the scene.
Teague was charged in the killing after police said they tracked his cell phone to the area and also linked him to an Audi used in the crime. The SUV is owned by Teague’s wife, police said.
Court records show Teague is facing two new robbery charges stemming from separate, similar crimes in the same general area of the homicide.
In an arrest report for Teague, police said that on April 30 a woman was on her morning walk at 6 a.m. in the area of South Buffalo Drive and West Flamingo Road when she was approached by a smaller framed man. He tapped her on the shoulder from behind.
“She observed that the black male was holding a small grey handgun, and it was pointed at her back,” police said.
The man demanded her phone and told her he would not hurt her. She handed over her phone, then he demanded her necklace, the report said. She asked if she could remove a Buddha pendant attached to the necklace and the assailant allowed her to do so. The assailant fled and police were called.
Police said they tracked the victim’s phone to a duplex in Las Vegas. They also photographed six vehicles parked in the general vicinity of where the phone last pinged before the signal was lost.
After Teague was arrested in connection with Johnson’s killing, police learned that Teague had ties to the duplex where the victim’s phone in the April 30 robbery last pinged. Police then tracked Teague’s personal phone to the location of the April 30 robbery at the time of the crime, the report said.
In another arrest report, police said that on the morning of May 1 a 14-year-old boy told police he was on his way to school, walking to a bus stop near Peace Way and Grand Canyon Drive, when two individuals he believed were juveniles approached.
Each pulled a gun and one “racked the slide” on his weapon, police said. They robbed the teen of his phone and his backpack containing his school laptop. The assailants also forced the teen to provide his access code to his phone. The teen was able to get away from the assailants and called police.
One of the responding officers noticed two males matching the description of the assailants and, as he was searching for the suspects, an Audi was observed leaving the area.
After Teague’s arrest, police said they tracked Teague’s phone to the area of the teen’s robbery. The Audi owned by Teague’s wife was also tracked to the area, police said. Teague fit the description of one of the assailants and, because of his small stature, “could easily be mistaken for a juvenile,” police said.
Teague is being represented by the Clark County public defender’s office. An attorney assigned to Teague’s case could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
