On a crisp autumn evening in North Las Vegas, 11-year-old Angelina Erives, a Hispanic girl, was at her kitchen table, her focus on a school science project with her mother and sisters. It was November 1, 2018, a night that would irrevocably shatter the peace of their home on Courtney Michelle Street. In an instant, the sounds of learning and laughter were replaced by the terrifying barrage of gunfire as dozens of bullets tore through their house.
Angelina was struck and fatally wounded in the violent intrusion.
The tragedy that befell the Erives family was a grim mistake. Investigators determined that the shooting was gang-related, an act of retaliation aimed at a different house in the neighborhood known for gang activity. The assailants had simply targeted the wrong home. As the suspects fled the scene, a neighbor, alerted by the commotion, fired at their vehicle, striking 19-year-old Guy Lee Banks III. Banks later died from his injuries.
The investigation into Angelina's death led to the identification and arrest of several individuals. Among them were Jarquan Tiffith, Isaac George, Erin Deshawn Lynn Hines, and Damion Dill. Hines was identified as the getaway driver, while Tiffith, George, and Dill were believed to be the shooters who unleashed the fatal volley of bullets. The senseless act of violence prompted a far-reaching investigation that brought the suspects into custody, with some facing the possibility of the death penalty.
In the years that followed, the slow gears of justice turned for Angelina's family. Jarquan Tiffith eventually pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison. Damion Dill, who was a teenager at the time of the shooting, also pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received a sentence of 20 to 50 years. The cases against Isaac George and Erin Deshawn Lynn Hines were still pending, leaving a chapter of this painful story yet to be closed.
