An African-American man, 24-year-old Yaphette Johnson, was discovered deceased in the driver's seat of his gold Ford Expedition on the morning of February 19, 2013. The vehicle was parked in the lot of the Devonshire Apartments, located on Vegas Valley Drive in the eastern part of Las Vegas. An official ruling by the Clark County coroner's office would later confirm that Johnson's death was a homicide resulting from multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators pieced together a timeline suggesting that Johnson had arrived and parked outside the apartment complex office at approximately 6:20 p.m. the previous evening. A short time later, around 6:30 p.m., surveillance footage captured a man approaching the passenger side of the SUV. The man is then seen firing several shots into the vehicle before fleeing the scene. Despite residents hearing the gunshots, no calls were made to 911 until a resident discovered Johnson's body the next morning. Police indicated that the shooting appeared to be drug-related.
In the course of their investigation, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department identified two suspects. Matthew Johnson, 21, and Brandon L. Webb, 20, were arrested and subsequently charged with murder with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit robbery. Both men were taken into custody and held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. It was not immediately made clear if there was any familial relationship between the victim, Yaphette Johnson, and the suspect, Matthew Johnson.
