Las Vegas man convicted of murder in Reno beating death
A Las Vegas man was convicted of first-degree murder this week in Washoe County.
A jury convicted Jamelle Lee Russell, 29, on Tuesday after a seven-day trial in the February 2015 beating death of 57-year-old Steven Arnold in Reno, according to the Washoe County district attorney’s office.
Arnold was found dead in an apartment after Reno police responded to a report of a burglary.
Police found video surveillance footage from a neighboring apartment complex that showed the suspect in the vicinity of the victim’s back window smoking and discarding the cigarette, the district attorney’s office said in a news release. Investigators linked Russell to the scene through DNA from the cigarette butt.
Russell faces life in prison at a sentencing in September.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
