Murder suspect in friend’s shooting was ‘sick from withdrawals’

A man arrested last week told police he was suffering from withdrawals when he shot his friend in the head.

Brian Diego Terrazas, 27, was booked Tuesday in the Clark County Detention Center on a murder charge, according to jail records.

Terrazas is suspected of shooting Francisco Mares, 28, of Las Vegas in the head while Mares was driving near Vegas and North Rancho drives, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Officers were called at 4:51 p.m. July 31 after the car Mares was driving crashed into a wall at 1600 East Lane. Mares was found dead inside, the Review-Journal previously reported.

An arrest report released Thursday from Metro indicates investigators reviewed camera footage from a nearby church, which showed a man matching Terrazas’ description walking near the crash.

When officers interviewed Terrazas, he said Mares picked him up from a nearby business and took him to Terrazas’ house, a quarter-mile from the crash. Terrazas said he was “sick from withdrawals” and held a gun to Mares head while demanding he drive.

It was unclear when Terrazas is suspected to have shot Mares, but he told police after the crash he walked away from the car and dumped his clothes and gun in a storm drain across town.

Terrazas is being held without bail and is expected to appear in court Tuesday.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.