Suspect in fatal shooting tells police he feared for his life

A 29-year-old man accused of killing another man Monday night in a North Las Vegas Walmart parking lot told detectives he had feared for his life before he opened fire into the victim’s car, police said.

Officers responded at about 10 p.m. to the store in the 3900 block of Lake Mead Boulevard to find 32-year-old Robert Barconia gravely wounded, and Donzell Dimitri Nevels holding a .40-caliber gun with its magazine removed, according to a North Las Vegas Police arrest report.

Nevels told police he was an employee of a third-party vendor in the retail store.

Nevels said that he had an encounter in the parking lot with Barconia that morning, and that the victim, who he did not know, was “aggressive” and asked him “why he was staring at him,” police said.

About 15 hours later, Nevels was in the parking lot when he saw Barconia drive toward him, rolling down his window to ask, “are you looking for me,” the suspect told police.

Nevels, who had an out-of-state concealed carry weapon permit not valid in Nevada, told police he pulled out the gun because he was “scared,” according to the report.

Nevels said he opened fire when Barconia made a “furtive movement,” police said.

Police said Nevels told them that “he wasn’t trying to kill him.” Barconia died at the scene, police said.

According to the redacted arrest report, someone told police that Barconia had suspected “infidelity” between his girlfriend, a Walmart employee, and Nevels.

Nevels appeared in North Las Vegas Justice Court Thursday morning, where bail was set at $250,000.

Nevels was booked into the Las Vegas Detention Center, and it was not clear if he had posted bond Thursday afternoon.

His listed attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.