Suspect in woman’s killing was security guard on Las Vegas Strip

Michael Land, 38, was arrested Monday night during a traffic stop near Silverado Ranch and Maryland Parkway, the Metropolitan Police Department said. Land was arrested for an outstanding warrant in connection with the homicide of 20-year-old Bailley Short on Aug. 15.

Short’s body was found by security officers about 2:40 a.m. that day between a parking garage and boiler room at Tahiti Village, 7200 Las Vegas Blvd. South. She died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head and neck, and her death was ruled a homicide, the Clark County coroner’s office has said.

After police identified Land as a suspect, the detectives assigned to watch him determined he worked as a security officer at the Martin Lawrence Galleries in the Forum Shops at Caesars, as well as at the Stefano Ricci luxury store in the Shops at Crystals at Aria, the report said.

Police believe Land was one of two men who were with Short in the early hours of Aug. 15, according to Land’s arrest report. A man whom Short would pay for rides told police he drove her to pick up another man at Aria.

The man knew Short as a sex worker, and Short told him she was going to meet a “regular” client named Mike, the report said.

After picking up the man at Aria with Short, the driver took them to a Jack in the Box so Short could get food. He then dropped them off at a hotel next to Tahiti Village, and saw the two walk toward the resort, the report said.

The driver told police the other man was carrying a backpack that was “stuffed full,” the report said.

About 1:30 a.m., a person staying at the resort was standing on a balcony when she heard a gunshot and a woman screaming, the report said. When that person’s father returned to the room, she told him about the screams, and he notified a security officer about 2:30 a.m.

Security officers found Short’s body 10 minutes later and called Metro. Evidence at the scene indicated Short had purchased food at a Jack in the Box that night, the report said.

Surveillance footage of a portion of the alley where Short was found showed her and an unknown person walking south down the alley at 1:33 a.m. A minute later, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a “full backpack” walked north and back into the camera’s view.

Police obtained Facebook messages between Short and “Mike Land” in which Short asked to meet Land just before midnight on Aug. 14, and Land said he was “getting off work” on the Strip soon, the report said. Cellphone records also place Land in the Aria pickup area about 12:30 a.m. and at Tahiti Village about 1:40 a.m.

Land is charged with murder with a deadly weapon. He remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday on $200,000 bail, court records show. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 30.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.