On the evening of January 14, 2020, a 26-year-old Caucasian male named Kevin Farnsworth was enjoying a walk in Henderson, Nevada. He was talking on his cellphone with his sister as he strolled along Warm Springs Road, west of Arroyo Grande Boulevard. It was a seemingly ordinary night that turned tragic when he was fatally shot. Authorities who arrived on the scene found him unresponsive on the sidewalk.
The Clark County coroner's office would later confirm that he died from a gunshot wound to the torso and ruled his death a homicide.
In the days following the shooting, Henderson police sought help from the public, asking for any witnesses or video footage that could shed light on what happened. Investigators worked for months to piece together the evidence. Their efforts eventually led them to a suspect, Eric Abasta, who was 22 years old at the time. Evidence linking Abasta to the crime included his cellphone data placing him near the scene around the time of the shooting and a 9 mm cartridge found in a car registered to him.
In June 2020, a grand jury indicted Eric Abasta on charges of murder with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon in connection with Kevin Farnsworth's death. This indictment was part of a larger 23-count indictment against Abasta and two other men, Mason Arney and James Arney. The group was implicated in a series of armed robberies that took place between January and March of that year. A convicted felon with a prior record, Abasta faced additional charges for his alleged involvement in other violent crimes during that period. Following the indictment, he was ordered to be held without bail.
