On a Tuesday evening in North Las Vegas, what began as a car ride with acquaintances took a tragic and fatal turn for 18-year-old Roland Pleasant, a Black/African American male. It was November 18, 2014, and Pleasant was driving with two teenage passengers when they stopped to pick up someone they knew, 18-year-old Eric Javon Bell. Shortly after Bell entered the vehicle, the situation escalated into a violent robbery.
Bell produced a gun and robbed one of the passengers before attempting to rob the second. In the midst of this, Pleasant was shot.
The two passengers, aged 16 and 17, managed to escape the car and fled to a nearby store where they frantically called for help. Police and emergency services arrived at the scene near Tropical Parkway and Lawrence Street around 6:45 p.m. to find Pleasant on the ground next to his vehicle. He was rushed to University Medical Center, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead. In the days that followed, friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil, remembering Pleasant as a sweet and funny young man who was not involved in gangs or confrontational behavior.
The investigation quickly identified Eric Javon Bell as the suspect. Two days after the shooting, on November 20, 2014, Bell surrendered to the authorities. He was subsequently charged with murder with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. In May 2017, Bell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
During his sentencing in July 2017, Bell expressed remorse for his actions, apologizing directly to Roland Pleasant's mother. He stated that he had made a split-second decision that cost a man his life, a decision he regretted every day. The judge sentenced Eric Javon Bell to a prison term of 16 to 45 years for the killing of Roland Pleasant.
