Las Vegas man charged with fatally shooting mother

A Las Vegas man arrested Wednesday is charged with killing his mother after police said he attempted to call in her shooting as a suicide.

Alexander McDonald, 24, called police just before 2 a.m. on June 5 to report his mother had shot herself with his gun at their southwest valley home near Decatur Boulevard and Windmill Lane, according to call logs and an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department.

McDonald told officers he slept in his mother’s bed and was the only one home with her when she asked to see his gun.

When police confiscated McDonald’s phone as evidence, officers said they found several texts to various contacts threatening to kill his mother as recently as June 2.

“I swear to god I could just pop her and end this all and just get some peace,” one text read, according to the arrest report.

Officers reviewed material from the Clark County coroner’s office, which ruled the cause of death as a gunshot to the back of the head, “making it highly unlikely” she killed herself, police said.

McDonald is being held without bail on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon pending a hearing Friday.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.