In a quiet neighborhood in the southwest valley of Las Vegas, the life of a 35-year-old Caucasian male named Thomas Frank Jones V was violently cut short on the afternoon of November 5, 2016. Inside his residence on Sandpiper Way, a home invasion turned fatal, leaving Jones with a gunshot wound to the head. The events unfolded when two men, intent on robbery, forced their way into the home.
The perpetrators, later identified as 18-year-old Cody Sullivan and 25-year-old Jorge Latorre,
were targeting a stash box containing drugs and money. Jones's roommate and girlfriend were both present during the terrifying ordeal. The roommate, hearing a commotion, was confronted by one of the intruders and managed to escape through a window to seek help. Meanwhile, Jones's girlfriend had barricaded herself in a bathroom where the stash box was located. At Jones's instruction, she relinquished the box to the armed men. In the ensuing struggle, she was assaulted, and Jones was fatally shot.
The investigation into the homicide led Las Vegas police to Sullivan and Latorre, aided by tips from the public and witness identifications. Surveillance footage from a neighbor's home also corroborated the roommate's account of the invasion. Within weeks of the murder, both suspects were in custody. Cody Sullivan was arrested on November 12, followed by Jorge Latorre's apprehension on November 17. The two men, who had a prior history of drug-related arrests together, faced a litany of charges for their roles in the deadly home invasion, including murder, robbery with a deadly weapon, and burglary with a firearm.
