Julio Bravo, 17, a male of Hispanic/Latino descent, was shot to death just after 1 a.m. on September 15, 2025, at the basketball courts inside East Las Vegas Family Park near East Washington Avenue and North Lamb Boulevard. Police were first alerted by a ShotSpotter activation and found Bravo at the east end of a court with a handgun next to his body; the coroner ruled his death a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
According to an arrest report, three teens had been driving around the northeast valley looking for people to rob for gas money. Wearing ski masks and armed, at least two of them confronted Bravo and a girl on a park bench and demanded her purse; within moments, roughly 15 rounds were exchanged, wounding the girl, one suspect, and fatally striking Bravo. Officers stopped a fleeing Honda Civic in the parking lot and detained three juveniles as they tried to leave.
Detectives and prosecutors identified one of the suspects as Jose Juarez, 17, who was booked as an adult. Court records and police statements indicate Juarez faces counts including open murder, attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, battery, and related gun charges; a scheduled bail hearing on September 22 was delayed, and he remained in custody while a preliminary hearing was set for October 2. Two additional teenage suspects were also arrested, but their names were withheld pending potential certification to adult court.
In the days that followed, Bravo's grieving family stood before cameras in Las Vegas urging prosecutors and the court to treat all involved as adults, describing a hardworking teenager who had gone to the park with a friend that night and never came home. Their calls echoed details in the police report: a robbery scheme hatched over an empty gas tank, masked youths prowling parks, and a confrontation at a neighborhood court that turned into a gunfight and ended a young life.
