Valencia Hampton, a 32-year-old mother, was building a life for herself and her son in Henderson, Nevada. She co-parented her middle-school-aged boy with his father, Christopher Perry, who was also 32. While Valencia and Christopher lived in separate apartments, they remained a team in raising their child. Valencia shared her home at the Cascade Apartments on Center Street with her son and her younger brother, 22-year-old Andre Thigpen.
However, tensions within the household had reportedly been escalating in the days leading up to her death.
The morning of Friday, October 23, 2026, began with a familiar argument. According to police reports, Valencia confronted her brother, Thigpen, about his personal hygiene and his failure to clean up after himself. The couple's son told investigators that his mother and uncle had been arguing when he was getting ready for school. Christopher Perry was also present and had joined in the argument. The boy left for school on his e-scooter, unaware it would be the last time he would see his parents alive. The argument between his mother and uncle was not new; a similar dispute two nights prior had turned physical, with Thigpen allegedly poking his sister repeatedly until she struck him, leading to a struggle.
Shortly after 7 a.m., a neighbor called 911 to report the sound of multiple gunshots coming from Valencia's apartment. The caller also witnessed a man in a red jacket fleeing the scene in a white SUV. When Henderson Police Department officers arrived at the apartment complex, located near East Lake Mead Parkway and East Warm Springs Road, they discovered a tragic scene. Both Valencia Hampton and Christopher Perry were found inside the residence, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Despite life-saving efforts by the Henderson Fire Department, both were pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators would later recover 13 9mm shell casings from the apartment.
The investigation quickly focused on Valencia’s brother, Andre Thigpen. The white Volkswagen Tiguan seen leaving the complex was registered to Valencia. Minutes after the shooting, police received reports of a crash involving a matching vehicle on Lake Mead Parkway near Lake Las Vegas. The driver had fled on foot. Henderson police located and arrested Thigpen about two hours after the shooting, around 9:10 a.m. When he was taken into custody, he was carrying a backpack that contained a black 9mm handgun and ammunition that matched the shell casings found at the scene of the homicides.
Thigpen was booked into the Henderson Detention Center and charged with two felony counts of open murder with a deadly weapon, as well as hit-and-run related charges and weapons offenses. He made his initial appearance in Henderson Justice Court on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, where a judge ordered him to be held without bail. According to police reports, Thigpen refused to speak with investigators following his arrest. Family members of both Valencia and Christopher were present and visibly emotional during the court proceedings.
The double homicide was a shocking event for the community and capped a particularly violent week in Henderson, which saw five people killed in three separate shootings. Residents of the Cascade Apartments, a complex described by one neighbor as full of families and children, were left shaken by the violence. The case against Andre D'Jallon Thigpen Jr. was set to proceed through the justice system, with a status check hearing scheduled for December 2026. As of the latest available reports from that time, the case was pending litigation.
