Las Vegas father, union worker remembered after fatal shooting

A Las Vegas man gunned down last month was remembered as a caring family man who loved to teach his son and was awaiting the birth of his second child, a daughter.

Thomas Anderson, 39, died June 24 at University Medical Center from a gunshot wound to the torso, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.

Las Vegas police were called to an apartment complex on the 2300 block of North Tucumcari Drive, near Smoke Ranch Road and Jones Boulevard, around 3 p.m. that day after an argument between Anderson and Jacob Gaona, 17, according to Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Ray Spencer.

Metro declined to provide further information on the case, but in a court hearing Tuesday, prosecutor Skyler Sullivan said Gaona admitted to shooting Anderson “until the gun was empty.”

Anderson, one of six siblings who grew up in Pahrump, was months from meeting his daughter and spent his evenings playing with his 3-year-old son, Braxton.

“That was his little twin,” Anderson’s sister Teresa Skinner, 44, said about Braxton. “He taught him how to count and say his ABCs.”

Brother-in-law Jason Skinner, 38, said Anderson worked as a laborer in a Las Vegas union, most recently doing plastering. For Anderson, it was more like a gym he didn’t have to pay for. The former high school football player was 6 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed about 270 pounds, Skinner estimated.

“He was very intimidating looking, but had the biggest heart you could imagine,” Jason Skinner said. “He would give the shirt off his back to somebody … He was the type to put himself second to somebody that needed something.”

The family doesn’t know Gaona and said they still don’t understand what happened. Teresa Skinner said she’s left remembering her brother’s huge heart and huge appetite.

“He just wanted me to cook for him,” she said. “He liked anything that didn’t have onions or mushrooms … He loved steak.”

Anderson introduced the Skinners when during a high school party Anderson and his little brother George invited Jason Skinner back to their house, where their protective older sister was watching closely. The couple will celebrate their 21st anniversary Sunday.

Jason Skinner said the family is now deciding how to tell Anderson’s son about the death.

“I don’t think he knows, but when we do sit down and tell him, he’s going to be devastated,” he said. “He will always know who his dad was and is, and how much he loved him.”

Anderson is survived by his siblings, George Anderson, Teresa and Jason Skinner, Angela Ipock, Alex Davidson and Jon Doney; his son Braxton and Braxton’s mother, Rebecca Piazza; and Anderson’s wife, Kama Morris.

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