Man gets life in prison for 2 deadly shootings in Las Vegas

A 21-year-old man was given back-to-back life sentences Wednesday for two fatal shootings and a separate pair of shootings from 2016..

District Judge Carolyn Ellsworth twice ordered Johnny Baggett to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In March, a jury convicted Baggett of 13 charges, including two counts of first-degree murder for the Sept. 6, 2016, slayings of Charles Edward Warren, 28, and DeAnte Dixon, 24, who died of multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 2200 N. Torrey Pines Drive.

Warren’s body was found on the ground near the driver’s side of silver Dodge Caliber; Dixon’s body also was found outside the vehicle, according to court documents. Witnesses saw two men flee the complex and jump a perimeter fence. Police believe the gunman who killed Warren was in the back seat of the Caliber at the time.

Investigators found Baggett’s driver’s license in the vehicle, along with a 9 mm handgun.

Later that month, Baggett was captured on video surveillance on the fifth floor of a Caesars Palace parking structure, firing in the direction of two people after an apparent quarrel. Hours after the Strip shooting, Baggett fired a handgun into the air and toward a crowd of people at a party in the southwest valley.

Inside a car in which Baggett was later stopped, police found the identification of a resident of the house where the party was located, along with a 9 mm handgun and a stolen iPad.

“He’s continuing violent behavior,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci said after Wednesday’s sentencing. “So it’s really difficult to say that that kind of a person is someone who can be trusted in society.”

In a sentencing memo, Baggett’s attorney, Robert Langford, pointed out that the defendant was 19 at the time of the shootings and that he had been repeatedly diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

“Baggett is young and can still be a positive influence and law-abiding citizen in the future,” Langford wrote. “Warehousing Johnny until his natural death is counterproductive to traditional purposes of Judicial Criminal sentencing … There is much to suggest that there will come a time when society no longer needs to be protected from Johnny Baggett and that he will no longer be a threat to the public and, indeed, can be an asset to society if given the proper training and guidance.”

Langford said he planned to appeal Baggett’s conviction and sentence.

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