Jury convicts Las Vegas man of murder in 2013 killing over iPad

Omar Arenas stared at the man convicted of killing the older brother he looked up to his entire life.

Hours earlier, a jury had found Michael Solid guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery for his role in the death of 15-year-old Las Vegas High School student Marcos Arenas.

“People say that he’s gone,” Omar told jurors Wednesday. “But he never left. He’s always with us, no matter what.”

In a courtroom packed with sobbing members of the Arenas family, even prosecutors wiped tears from their eyes.

Prosecutors said Solid, now 24, was behind the wheel of a 2002 white Ford Explorer that ran over Marcos Arenas as he tried to recover his stolen iPad.

On the afternoon of May 16, 2013, one of Solid’s friends, Jacob Dismont, wrested the device away from the boy and jumped into the SUV, with Solid waiting in the driver’s seat, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Marcos had cherished the iPad because his family rarely could afford high-priced electronics. His father, Ivan Arenas, a single father who worked as a handyman, took out a payday loan to purchase the device for $249 from a pawn shop. It had been a birthday gift and a reward for doing well in school.

Marcos struggled and screamed in his last, desperate attempt to hold onto the device, prosecutors said. Traffic stopped as he was dragged from a sidewalk onto Charleston Boulevard. Marcos grasped and banged on the SUV before he was run over and Solid sped away.

The younger Arenas recalled how his brother could always make his day better. He said he was out of state on the day of the killing, and did not get a chance to say goodbye.

“Who am I supposed to go to? He was the one I went to,” Omar testified during the penalty phase of Solid’s trial. “He was the one I could cry to and talk to. I can’t talk to him. I can’t listen to him.”

The Clark County jury heard four days of testimony about the killing, and the same panel is tasked with deciding Solid’s sentence for the murder. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Dismont, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and is awaiting sentencing.

In a somber, yet steady voice, Ivan Arenas told jurors Wednesday that he and his sons were more like three brothers. Marcos looked out for his father as much as his father looked out for him. Marcos and his father lifted weights together the day the teen died.

Marcos had gone out to pick up dinner for himself and his father at a Chipotle near their northwest valley home, and later encountered Dismont at a nearby service station.

The elder Arenas later rushed to University Medical Center, where his son lay in a coma. He said he struggled with the thought of keeping his son on life support, before doctors informed him the boy had died.

“I feel his presence, that he still is taking care of me,” Ivan Arenas testified.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.