In a tragic turn of events on a Thursday evening in Las Vegas, a family dispute within the confines of a hotel room at The Mirage escalated to a fatal shooting, claiming the life of 49-year-old Acturius Dwayne Milner. The incident, which occurred on August 4, 2022, also left two women critically injured. Milner, a Black / African American male from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
The altercation reportedly began as "play fighting"
between Milner and his cousin, 54-year-old Billy Hemsley, inside room 8020 of the iconic Strip hotel. According to statements Hemsley later made to the police, he became angered when Milner choked him during the fight. This prompted Hemsley to pull out a gun and shoot Milner multiple times. In the ensuing chaos, Hemsley also shot Milner's daughter and her friend who were present in the room.
Following the shooting, which happened around 8:30 p.m., Hemsley fled the scene, leading to a lockdown of the hotel for several hours as police searched for him. He was apprehended in the early hours of the following morning at a bus station near South Nellis Boulevard and East Twain Avenue. Hemsley was subsequently arrested and faced charges of one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
This was not the first violent encounter between the cousins. Court records revealed that nearly two decades prior, in January 2003, Hemsley had pleaded guilty to aiming a firearm at a cousin with a remarkably similar name, Aucturius Milner. Hemsley’s criminal history in Las Vegas, dating back to 2000, included prior convictions for battery and attempted murder. He had been released from prison in 2019 after serving a sentence for a 2012 incident where he stabbed his girlfriend.
