In the chill of a late November evening in Las Vegas, a dispute over the custody of a child tragically escalated into a fatal encounter for 25-year-old Ethan Hogan. On November 29, 2016, Hogan, a Black male, found himself in a heated argument with his ex-girlfriend, Janeica Butler, in the parking lot of her apartment complex on South Durango Drive.
The disagreement, which reportedly also touched upon financial matters concerning a car loan, took a deadly turn.
As Hogan and Butler argued, a man named Terrance Davis, who was dating Butler at the time, arrived at the scene. Initially, it was reported as a random act of violence, but it was later revealed that Davis was known to Butler. After a brief verbal exchange with Hogan, Davis retrieved what witnesses described as a small assault rifle from his dark-colored sedan and fired a single shot, striking Hogan in the abdomen. The shooter then fled the scene. Hogan, who was unarmed, was rushed to University Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries. He was a father to a 5-year-old son, Elijah.
In the days following the shooting, police worked to piece together the events of that night. Initially, Butler claimed not to know the assailant. However, the investigation soon pointed toward someone she knew. In early January 2017, Las Vegas police arrested 29-year-old Terrance Davis in connection with Hogan's murder. He was charged with open murder with a deadly weapon and possession of a gun by a prohibited person. The arrest warrant revealed that the argument between Hogan and Butler had started over her romantic life and escalated to a dispute about car payments before turning to custody matters just before the fatal shooting.
