Man charged in death of teen pleads not guilty
A Las Vegas man accused of killing a 15-year-old girl and wounding a man in a drug-related home invasion robbery pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and other charges.
Norman Belcher, 35, is charged in the Dec. 6 shooting death of Alexus Postorino, a sophomore at Southwest Career and Technical Academy.
A trial before Judge Elissa Cadish was set for Feb. 21, 2012. Clark County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Authorities say Belcher believed the teen’s father, William, owed him a drug-related debt. Belcher is accused of breaking into the Postorinos’ home at 3 a.m., intending to rob it and leave no witnesses. A man at the house was wounded. William Postorino, a single father with a past drug trafficking conviction, was at a casino at the time.
Belcher, who is being held without bail, also is accused of taking a 60-inch television, a laptop computer and a safe containing money from the house.
Postorino, 36, is awaiting an April 5 preliminary hearing in Las Vegas Justice Court on four felony counts relating to a drug dealing arrest Feb. 26 .
Las Vegas police busted Postorino while he allegedly was selling narcotics from a vehicle in a casino parking lot, according to an arrest report. Police found 3.9 grams of marijuana, 0.4 grams of methamphetamine and 75 oxycodone pills in the vehicle.
Authorities said Postorino was selling the pills for $1 each to a woman named Laurel Lovett. The report said that in the back seat of the vehicle was Alexus Postorino, who was then 14.
On Feb. 5, William Postorino was pulled over on a traffic stop, and police determined he had outstanding warrants in Las Vegas Municipal Court. A search of his vehicle turned up 0.1 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded revolver.
The district attorney’s office was still reviewing that case for possible charges, court records show.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.