2 Las Vegas teens jailed in alleged gang-related slaying in 2018

Two teenagers charged with murder this month in connection with a November 2018 fatal shooting were associated with a Las Vegas gang, according to an arrest report.

Daniel Barron, 17, and Alejandro Morales-Trejo, 16, were booked into the Clark County Detention Center in July and charged with murder with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder, court records show. According to jail booking logs, Barron was 16 and Morales-Trejo was 15 when 24-year-old Jesus Montiel was fatally shot Nov. 20, 2018.

Montiel died two days after the shooting.

Barron and Morales-Trejo were “associated with a street gang known as 28th Street,” the report said. The teenagers, along with “several other individuals,” were suspected of a string of robberies in which “Barron would approach victims and ask them if they were associated with a gang.”

Before Montiel died, he told police that on Nov. 20, 2018, he was walking near a wash on the 3100 block of South Mojave Road, near Desert Inn Road, when two people wearing dark clothing approached him.

The two suspects “asked him, ‘Do you bang?’ ” the report said. “When (Montiel) responded ‘No,’ he was immediately shot.”

Officers responded to the shooting about 11:40 a.m., but the suspects fled on foot before they arrived, the Metropolitan Police Department has said.

Gunshot wound to abdomen

Montiel’s death was ruled a homicide due to a gunshot wound of the abdomen, the Clark County coroner’s office said.

A confidential informant told police that Barron told Morales-Trejo to shoot Montiel, the report said. The informant said the two teenagers “began to brag” about the shooting during a conversation and that Morales-Trejo had shot Montiel with a hollow point bullet in the chest.

The two then gave the gun to another gang member, who buried the weapon, the report said. Police also linked Morales-Trejo and Barron to the shooting through surveillance footage and cellphone records.

According to the arrest report, police visited Barron’s house on July 21 and told him they “needed to talk … about his warrant.” The teen was arrested after he attempted to run from officers, it said.

Morales-Trejo was booked into the detention center July 8, but information about his arrest was not immediately available.

Both still in jail

Both teenagers remained in jail Tuesday, court records show. Barron has a $150,000 bail, while Morales-Trejo has no bail. Both were scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.

Other alleged 28th Street gang members have also faced charges in Las Vegas shootings.

In April, 15-year-old Martin Flores-Chiquin was charged with attempted murder after the alleged gang member shot a man outside a Boys & Girls Club in January, according to his arrest report.

In April 2009, 14-year-old Jaime Alcaraz, along with 25-year-old Ramon Rodriguez, fatally shot 16-year-old Luis Bernabe, who was a rival gang member. Alcaraz and Rodriguez both pleaded guilty in 2013 to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon to assist a criminal gang, court records show.

In May 2007, Delbert Cobb was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole for murdering 39-year-old Juan Lopez Sr. and attempting to kill the man’s son, a rival gang member, in 1999. Cobb was 16 when he carried out the killing while patrolling the heart of what was once 28th Street turf, according to court records.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.