Ronald Wise III, a 25-year-old Black male, was stabbed late in the morning on April 25, 2016, outside a residence on the 3800 block of James Paul Avenue near East Sahara and South Sandhill in Las Vegas. Neighbors told police they heard an argument just before the attack; wounded in the neck and chest, Wise banged on a nearby door pleading for help before he was rushed to University Medical Center, where he died of a stab wound to the chest, according to the coroner.
The killing marked one of dozens of homicides investigated by Metro that year as detectives worked from the scene, believing the assailant was someone the victim knew.
Months later, a Clark County grand jury indicted 24-year-old Laval Coates on a charge of murder with use of a deadly weapon in Wise’s death. An arrest warrant affidavit described a dispute that morning tied to a damaged car: Coates had taken his girlfriend’s 2016 Honda, parked it at the James Paul address, and asked Wise to remove the vehicle’s GPS chip; Coates allegedly became enraged over damage sustained during the removal, and the confrontation moved outside before the stabbing. Records reported Coates had been held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail since August 12, with a court hearing set for early September 2016.
