Concern grew for Roy Tuando, a 30-year-old man, when he failed to show up for his job for three consecutive days. His worried boss prompted a welfare check at his home in the 1600 block of Nesting Way in Las Vegas on the evening of May 25, 2023. What responding Metropolitan Police Department officers discovered was a grim scene that would unravel a story of a family dispute turned fatal.
Inside the residence, officers encountered Steven McLucas, Tuando's 42-year-old nephew.
McLucas initially attempted to deceive the officers, claiming his uncle had traveled to Florida to visit his wife and that he had no way of contacting him. However, a phone call to another family member cast immediate doubt on his story. The relative informed the police that Tuando did not have a wife in Florida and expressed her own deep concern for his safety, noting that it was highly uncharacteristic of him to miss work. This crucial piece of information led officers to press further.
Upon a more thorough search of the house, the tragic truth was revealed. Roy Tuando was found deceased on his bedroom floor, having been shot. Confronted with this discovery, McLucas's story crumbled. He confessed to a violent altercation with his uncle that had taken place two days prior, on May 23. McLucas admitted that he had tried to take his uncle's rifle to sell or trade for fentanyl. When Tuando resisted, a struggle over the firearm ensued, culminating in McLucas fatally shooting his uncle.
In the days that followed the shooting, McLucas made no attempt to seek help or report the death. Instead, he took the rifle and left the house to purchase drugs. He returned to the home and simply closed his deceased uncle's bedroom door, leaving his body to decompose. The situation took an even more bizarre turn when McLucas admitted to having a female guest sleep over the day after the killing. The guest reportedly complained of an "unpleasant smell" in the house, a chilling detail that McLucas had ignored. McLucas was arrested at the scene and subsequently held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center on a murder charge.
