Las Vegas man pleads not guilty to murder charges

Carl Guilford is accused of suffocating his 6-year-old cousin and, after his arrest, beating and stabbing to death his cellmate.

No trial date was set. A status check in the case is set for April 9 before Judge Stefany Miley.

It’s not known whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Guilford, who has competency issues. After the killings, Guilford was sent to the state’s mental health facility in Sparks to determine whether he was competent to stand trial. Two months later, state medical experts concluded he is competent, if he is medicated.

Guilford was arrested May 26 after being accused of suffocating his cousin with a comforter and was booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

According to his arrest report, Guilford was trying to quiet the boy so he wouldn’t wake the boy’s mother at their Desert Inn Road apartment. Guilford told Las Vegas police he heard the devil’s voice tell him “well done” as he left the room.

Guilford’s mother told investigators her son is bipolar and talked openly with family members about angels and demons and had mentioned “making sacrifices.”

Police segregated Guilford from the general population and housed him with Francesco Sanfilippo, 29, who was facing child pornography and drunken driving charges.

On July 29, a corrections officer found blood in the inmates’ cell during a routine check.

Guilford initially told homicide detectives that a fight between the two ensued but later changed his story and said that “the devil told him that he needed to kill Sanfilippo, or he would make him kill himself,” according to a report.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.