DNA points to suspect in Portaro slaying

Richard Portaro was on a business trip in Tonopah when he got a 4 a.m. call in his hotel room -- his 22-year-old son had been fatally shot in Las Vegas.

On the three-hour drive home from Nye County, his mind raced with thoughts of his slain son, Michael Alano Portaro, and he agonized over not being able to console his grieving family when they needed him most.

"It was the worst day of my life," said Portaro, recalling the traumatic March morning from his northwest valley home. "It was a terrible drive."

On Monday, four homicide investigators with the Metropolitan Police Department brought Portaro and his family the news they had been waiting for since the March 30 slaying: Investigators had identified a 22-year-old suspect and recommended a murder charge against him.

Portaro confirmed that Brandon J. Hill is the suspect in his son's slaying.

According to Clark County Detention Center records, Hill has been in jail since May 19 on several unrelated charges, including grand larceny auto, robbery with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed weapon.

Portaro did not know what evidence led police to charge Hill. He said detectives had connected Hill to a vehicle robbery that happened days before his son's slaying. He said he thinks police collected DNA evidence in the case against Hill.

Police could not be reached for comment late Monday.

Michael Portaro was gunned down outside the Tenaya Creek Brewery, 3101 N. Tenaya Way, at 11:30 p.m.

Police recovered inconclusive video surveillance footage that appeared to show a young man wearing jeans, a hooded sweat shirt and white shoes in the brew pub's parking lot before the shooting.

Michael Portaro, a 2006 graduate of Faith Lutheran Junior/Senior High School, was in the bar's parking lot selling tickets to a show at Daddy Mac's restaurant in Henderson, where his hip-hop group, Ekoh, was to perform. Although there were patrons in the bar during the shooting, nobody heard gunshots, police said. Portaro never set foot inside the bar.

Police said the motive was robbery, although money was found on Portaro after the shooting. But his car was stolen and later recovered.

Richard Portaro said he thinks the motive for his son's slaying was that the shooter needed a car. He said that on the day his son was slain, police recovered the vehicle they allege Hill stole earlier near the brew pub.

"He was stranded in the area and needed to get another vehicle to get home," Portaro speculated as he watched two of his granddaughters play in the family room.

Portaro's family and friends kept the slaying in the news, even when police appeared to have no promising leads. In May, the family announced a $30,000 reward for information leading to the killer's conviction.

In addition to the $30,000, tipsters also would have been eligible for a $2,000 reward offered by Crime Stoppers should they provide assistance with the Metropolitan Police Department's investigation.

Richard Portaro said he thinks it was evidence, not tips, that led to Hill's arrest.

According to county records, a person named Brandon Jovan Hill was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in 2008. He was sentenced to two years of probation and community service. His probation was later revoked, and he was sentenced to a year in county jail with credit for 85 days served.

Hill is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Richard Portaro said his life has felt empty since his son was killed. On Monday, he gathered family members, including three brothers, his wife and four children, when detectives announced the break in the case.

He said that although Hill's arrest can't bring his son back, his family takes some solace from the development.

"Not having him (Hill) charged with our crime meant he could have been released," Portaro said. "That was the scary part."

Portaro said he now knows definitively what he long suspected: that his son wasn't doing anything wrong before he was shot.

He said his son, who was once the quarterback for his high school, and Hill did not know each other.

Portaro said his son, who had a strong sense of fun and was considerate of others, recently had discovered a passion for music. In the group, Ekoh, he was a hype man who danced on stage. He went by the stage name Mikey P.

"He got the music passion and was working as hard as he could," Portaro said.

Portaro credited the Las Vegas police for doing a thorough investigation. He said there were times when he and his family thought the crime might go unsolved.

Detectives at his home Monday night were visibly happy that they could connect Hill to his son's slaying, Portaro said.

Sometimes though, he said, he can't help playing the "what if" game.

"If he left a minute earlier, he's still with us. ... Wrong place, wrong time."

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.