Man dies after being shot by west Las Vegas Valley resident
Family and friends gathered at Valley High School’s front steps to mourn the 19-year-old who died Sunday after a Saturday shooting in the west valley.
Just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to the area of West Desert Inn Road and Remuda Trail to investigate gunshots, the Metropolitan Police Department said. They found Donavon Johnson suffering from several gunshot wounds.
Police said a neighbor confronted Johnson in the street, threatened to call 911 and drew a weapon. The neighbor fired several rounds, striking Johnson in the chest.
Johnson was taken to the University Medical Center, where he died early Sunday morning.
Johnson’s mother, LaDonna Daniels, said he went to the house with some friends to retrieve money that was stolen from him. When he left the house, he and his friends saw the neighbor and ran, but had to return to the car to get home.
“(The neighbor) stood there and waited for them like a vigilante,” Daniels said. “The didn’t even bother him. He just wanted to be the neighborhood hero.”
Daniels said Johnson was unarmed at the shooting site.
A family friend said Johnson worked at a local restaurant and shunned trouble.
“He was quiet as a bumblebee,” the friend, who declined to give his name, said. “He wasn’t running with the wrong crowd.”
People in the crowd clutched at each other and sobbed or shouted as Johnson’s mother explained how he died.
“We all do senseless stuff, stupid stuff,” she said. “But the way my son was murdered, it didn’t have to happen that way.”
His aunt, Dorothy Johnson, said he was outgoing, spontaneous and always smiling.
“He was kind of quiet but he was a people person, he had his ways,” she said. “He was just a typical teenager.”
Johnson graduated from Valley High School in 2016 and planned to start school at the University of Arizona this year.
His death is the 13th homicide investigated by Metro in 2017.
Anyone with information about the incident may call the Metro homicide section at 702-828-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
Review-Journal writer Rachel Hershkovitz contributed to this report. Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @MaxMichor on Twitter. Contact Rachel Hershkovitz at rhershkovitz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @rzhershkovitz on Twitter.
