DNA leads police to suspect in random March robbery, fatal shooting

DNA from a plastic bag filled with an “unknown green leafy substance” led police to a suspect in the March killing of a father of three in what police have described as a random robbery, according to an arrest report.

Roderick Lee, 34, was arrested June 10 in connection with the death of 24-year-old Kashif Brown, who was shot and killed early March 22 at a central Las Vegas gas station, where he had stopped to fill up on fuel before his landscaping job, the Metropolitan Police Department has said. Lee has been charged with murder with a deadly weapon, court records show.

In the weeks following Brown’s killing, homicide detectives and Brown’s relatives pleaded for information that could lead to an arrest.

According to Lee’s arrest report, surveillance footage from the Circle K gas station at 428 S. Valley View Boulevard captured a Chrysler 300 pulling into the parking lot about 3:30 a.m. March 22. Witnesses told police that a man and woman appeared to be sitting inside the car.

About five minutes later, Brown pulled up to a gas pump and went inside the store to purchase a pack of gum and $40 worth of gas, the report states. The driver of the Chrysler moved closer to Brown’s car as Brown walked back outside.

The man driving the Chrysler then got out of the car, approached Brown and shot him multiple times, the report said. Brown’s death was ruled a homicide due to gunshot wounds, the Clark County coroner’s office has said.

At the gas station, investigators found a “knotted clear plastic bag containing an unknown green leafy substance” that was left in the parking lot. DNA found on the bag matched to Lee through the Combined DNA Index System, a database maintained by the FBI, the report said.

The DNA also led to Lee’s girlfriend, who owned the Chrysler seen at the crime scene, the report said. Investigators determined that Lee and his girlfriend exchanged text messages about Brown’s killing, but it was unclear if his girlfriend was the woman seen with Lee at the scene.

Metro homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said Thursday that the woman seen with Lee that morning has not been arrested and that detectives are “still determining her level of involvement.”

Police also received information from a confidential informant who said a woman named “Ali” had claimed to be with Lee during the shooting. The woman told the informant that she ingested cocaine with Lee at the gas station before he shot a man pumping gas, the report said.

The last name of the woman was redacted from the arrest report, which was released by Las Vegas Justice Court.

Shortly after Lee’s arrest, Kyran Savage, Brown’s older sister, told the Review-Journal that her family is still torn apart by her brother’s death. She said the family does not know who Lee is, and they still believe the killing was random.

“We are extremely grateful and relieved that he was caught,” Savage said. “We’re still saddened by what happened in the first place.”

Brown’s mother, Maria Levi, has described her son as a “good soul” who was dedicated to his partner, Jenifer Torres, and their three young daughters. Savage previously said her brother dreamed of starting his own business.

Lee is being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail, jail records show. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for July 20.

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