Cell tower, Snapchat helped Las Vegas police link shooting suspects
A slaying suspect was arrested after fleeing to Houston and linked to other suspects through social media and cellular tower records.
Montrell Russum was arrested June 29 after authorities said he fatally shot Martell Williams on Jan. 31, according to Clark County Detention Center records. Russum fled to Houston after the shooting at The Enclaves apartments, 8455 W. Sahara Ave., according to his arrest warrant.
Russum is accused of murder with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon. He is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. It is unclear whether Russum was arrested in Houston or Clark County.
Russum’s arrest report linked Billy Danford to the shooting after cell tower records show it “appears the two were together” two hours before and an hour after Williams’ death. Detectives found that Danford and Russum are Facebook friends after receiving a tip that Danford was involved in the shooting.
Police suspect Williams was killed during an attempted drug deal. Russum was communicating with Williams through Snapchat under the username “kreepgotclout,” according to Russum’s arrest warrant. Police verified the Snapchat account was registered under Russum’s phone number after serving Snapchat with a search warrant.
Russum deleted his Snapchat and Facebook accounts after Williams was killed, according to Russum’s arrest warrant.
Christopher Parra also was arrested on April 5 in connection to the shooting because police say he drove Russum to the shooting and to the airport. Parra is accused of murder with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon. Parra remains in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.
Detective Dolphis Boucher wrote in the document that “Danford appears to be the link between the Russum and Parra, based on the cell phone records as he communicates with them both routinely.”
Clark County court records show an arrest warrant was issued for Danford on Monday. He is not in custody, jail records show.
Danford is accused of conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with a deadly weapon and murder with a deadly weapon, according to court records.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.