In the predawn hours of December 12, 2019, the life of 17-year-old Black/African American male Kory Lino was cut short in an alley in Henderson, Nevada. The tragic events of that morning unfolded after Lino and another 17-year-old, Zeru Burch-Estes, missed a bus and were walking back to an apartment complex. In an alley behind a car wash, the teenagers began firing a Glock handgun that Burch-Estes had in his backpack.
The gunshots roused 44-year-old Edward Croaker, an Army veteran, who
was in his nearby home on Meadow Bluffs Avenue. Croaker, already on edge due to recent vandalism and an intruder at his home, heard the shots and, fearing for his family's safety, retrieved his own firearm. Looking out his bedroom window, he saw the two teenagers in the parking lot, one of them holding a pistol. After hearing another shot, Croaker fired three rounds from his window, striking Lino. When police arrived at the 1600 block of West Sunset Road, they found Kory Lino deceased from a gunshot wound to the head. His friend was unharmed.
Initially, Edward Croaker was arrested and charged with murder. Investigators at the time determined that the teenagers were moving away from Croaker's residence when he fired the fatal shot. Lino's body was found approximately 90 feet from where Croaker had fired. However, after a thorough review of the case, the Clark County District Attorney's Office dismissed the murder charge against Croaker in September 2020, concluding that he had acted in self-defense. District Attorney Steve Wolfson stated that they could not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The other teenager, Zeru Burch-Estes, faced charges of destroying evidence, discharging a firearm where people might be endangered, and possession of a stolen firearm after he admitted to hiding the gun in a dumpster and throwing away a shell casing. The dismissal of the case against Croaker left Kory Lino's family devastated. His mother, Patrice Lino, expressed her heartbreak, stating that a man could "shoot a kid in the back of the head and just continue on with no consequences."
