North Las Vegas man accused of butchering mother, sister indicted
A North Las Vegas man accused of butchering his mother and sister, mutilating one of the bodies with a chainsaw and then living in a home with the decomposing bodies was indicted by a grand jury on murder charges, court records show.
Darius Sorrells, 30, was ordered held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center by District Judge Linda Bell. An arraignment hearing was set for May 6.
Defense lawyers have asked for a mental competency hearing for Sorrells, set for May 2, to determine whether he should be sent to Lake’s Crossing, the state’s mental health facility in Sparks. Doctors there would decide whether he is competent to stand trial.
A North Las Vegas police report said blood was found on a disassembled Poulan brand chainsaw with the bodies of Janice Burden, 53, and Natasha Sorrells, 34.
The two women were beat to death, prosecutor David Stanton said.
Burden’s body was found “wrapped like a mummy in clear plastic on the floor in the living room,” the police report said. Natasha Sorrells’ body was in a bathtub. The legs of her body were cut off and found in a freezer wrapped in plastic, police said.
Incense may have been used to cover up odor from the decaying bodies.
North Las Vegas police suspect the killings probably occurred a week before the bodies were discovered on March 21 at 6120 Stibor St., near Lamb Boulevard and Tropical Parkway.
Stanton said that according to family and friends, Burden and Natasha Sorrells had asked Darius Sorrells to move out and they had grown afraid of him, which could be a motive for the slayings.
Neighbors and relatives of the women told police that Darius Sorrells was mentally unstable.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe
