On the morning of February 27, 2023, Kidada Stewert, a 48-year-old Black / African American female, was fatally shot in the front yard of her Las Vegas home. The incident occurred around 9:07 a.m. in the 9800 block of Venus Lake Court, near South Fort Apache Road and West Mountains Edge Way. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots and discovered Stewert lying in her yard.
She was transported to University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
Investigators utilized surveillance footage which showed a red Hyundai Sonata with a faulty right brake light near Stewert's home just before the shooting. A man dressed entirely in black was seen exiting the car, approaching Stewert as she returned home, and firing several shots before fleeing the scene. Stewert's girlfriend, who was inside the house, heard the gunshots, saw a red car speeding away, and called 911.
About 12 hours after the fatal shooting, the red Hyundai was stopped by state troopers in Arizona for a traffic violation. The driver was identified as 39-year-old Michael Coleman. He was initially released, but further investigation linked him to Stewert's murder. On May 4, 2023, a SWAT team was dispatched to Coleman's Las Vegas residence, and he was arrested after initially refusing to surrender. He was subsequently charged with open murder with a deadly weapon.
Further police investigation revealed a more complex and sinister motive behind Stewert's death. Authorities allege that Coleman was working as a hitman for a man named Carl Chester, who was involved in a Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud scheme. According to police, Chester would recruit individuals for the scheme and then send Coleman to threaten or kill them or their family members if they did not give Chester his expected share of the fraudulent funds. Police believe Stewert's murder was connected to this scheme, with her being a family member of someone involved. Coleman has since been implicated in three other homicides between 2021 and 2022, all allegedly at the behest of Chester. Chester himself was reportedly killed in March 2023 by family members of another one of Coleman's alleged victims.
