In the quiet west Las Vegas valley, concern grew for Willie Normand Jr. when the 80-year-old man failed to appear for work for two consecutive days. On May 8, 2017, family members went to his condominium on West Pirates Cove Road to check on him. Inside, they made a grim discovery; Normand was deceased. The initial cause of his death was not immediately apparent, prompting an investigation by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department into what they deemed a suspicious death.
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investigators delved into the circumstances surrounding Normand's final days, his death was officially classified as a homicide. It was later revealed by a police lieutenant that he had been stabbed. The police began searching for a person of interest, described as a woman who was seen with Normand in the early hours of May 6th. Surveillance footage from the Palace Station casino showed Normand leaving with a woman the night before his death. This footage became a critical piece of evidence in the unfolding investigation.
The investigation led police to 25-year-old Shaunice Monique McKinley. A key piece of forensic evidence linking her to the scene was her DNA, which was found on the exterior of a condom inside Normand's condo. Investigators believe Normand was killed during or shortly after a sexual encounter with McKinley. Following the incident, McKinley fled the scene in Normand's Jaguar, which was later found by authorities.
In July 2017, a little over two months after Willie Normand Jr.'s body was discovered, Shaunice Monique McKinley was arrested. She was subsequently charged with murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, and grand larceny for the theft of his vehicle. The arrest brought some measure of resolution to the family of Willie Normand Jr., whose absence from work had first signaled that something was terribly wrong.
