A man shot and killed his mother’s boyfriend in Las Vegas after confronting him about giving his mother a black eye, according to an arrest report.
The Metropolitan Police Department said Gabriel Rivera, 23, was arrested Monday in connection with a fatal shooting on Aug. 5 that left Edward McClellan, 39, dead. The shooting happened around 4:25 am. in the backyard of a residence at the 4500 block of East Ogden Avenue, near Charleston and Lamb boulevards in the east Las Vegas Valley.
Rivera faces two felony charges of open murder and battery with the use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
The report said police responded to the residence after receiving two 911 calls and a ShotSpotter notification about gunfire in the area. In a makeshift shed in the home’s backyard, the report said, officers found McClellan with several gunshot wounds and 10 handgun cartridge cases around his body.
One witness inside the shed with McClellan told detectives that a man, later identified by police as Rivera, repeatedly knocked on the shed’s door while yelling “where’s my mom?” several times, according to the report.
Another witness in the residence said they heard Rivera talk to McClellan about Rivera’s mother being covered in bruises and having a black eye, the report said. Witnesses reported hearing several gunshots in the shed before Rivera ran from the shed to the front yard, hopped in a white four-door vehicle and drove away, according to the report.
“At some point during the confrontation, Gabriel shot and killed (McClellan) before he fled the residence in his vehicle,” police said in the report.
Mother described domestic violence
Several people who knew of McClellan’s relationship with Rivera’s mother noted it was volatile and violent, according to the report. One person who knew them told detectives their relationship was “turbulent, with frequent fights.”
Rivera’s mother called police the day after the shooting and told detectives McClellan had given her a black eye, the report said. She described their five-month rocky relationship to detectives and said McClellan had previously accused her of sleeping with other people.
Rivera’s mother told investigators she had returned home late from work and left McClellan’s shed shortly after to avoid getting in a fight. The report said McClellan texted his girlfriend later and said “call me as soon as possible,” followed by another message reading “or don’t call ever,” as well as a broken heart and middle finger emoji. Rivera’s mother denied being in the area of the shooting when it occurred, the report added.
Police used license plate readers and Rivera’s cellphone location to place Rivera at the crime scene at the time of the shooting, according to the report.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on Monday arrested Rivera in Menifee, California, Metro said. Rivera was in the Riverside Southwest Detention Center pending extradition back to Las Vegas as of Wednesday. His next court date in Riverside is scheduled for Sept. 15, online jail records show.
Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.
