67
Sheldon Jacobs and his wife Nicole Jacobs walked in front of a home on the 6100 block of Stibor Street in North Las Vegas on Tuesday. Police in North Las Vegas think a family member may be responsible for a double-slaying at this home where officers sent to check on a missing 53-year-old mother and her 33-year-old daughter found a bloody crime scene. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Justin Yurkanin)
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. » A 30-year-old man accused of killing his mother and sister in their North Las Vegas home spent a couple of days dismembering one of the bodies and trying to clean up the bloody scene, a police official said Tuesday.
Darius Davon Sorrells lived for at least several days with the two corpses at the two-story stucco home before he was arrested early Saturday after a chance run-in with police and a brief high-speed traffic chase, North Las Vegas police Sgt. Chrissie Coon said.
Sorrells wasn’t linked to the double slaying until Monday, when the bodies of his 53-year-old mother and 33-year-old sister were found at the house.
The women’s names were withheld pending a coroner’s investigation.
Coon said the two last had contact with family members and friends last Wednesday or Thursday. Police were informed Friday that the women were missing and hadn’t been seen at work, he said.
"It appears, based on the time frame and the evidence in the house that the murder suspect was probably in the home with these women deceased for several days," the police spokeswoman said. "Steps were taken to try to clean up the crime scene and contain evidence."
Coon identified Sorrells as the only suspect in the slayings.
She said tools were found in the house but wouldn’t specify the type. She declined to describe the crime scene or say which body was partially dismembered.
Coon said the injuries found on the corpses made it difficult for investigators to identify a murder weapon. Police and forensic investigators spent more than 14 hours at the house Monday.
"We don’t know yet how they died and which wounds were inflicted post-mortem," Coon said Tuesday. "It’s not exactly clear what the murder weapon was. A lot is going to depend on the results of the autopsies."
A motive for the attack remained unclear, she added.
Police sent to the home to check on the women at about 2:30 a.m. Monday entered through an unlocked back door and found the crime scene, Coon said.
Sorrells was already in jail — having been found at about 3 a.m. Saturday by patrol officers looking for a 2004 GMC Envoy being driven erratically a couple of miles from the home.
When police approached the vehicle in a shopping center parking lot, it sped away and at one point drove into oncoming traffic lanes before crashing into a light pole, Coon said.
Sorrells fled on foot from the SUV toward nearby railroad tracks before he was caught.
"It was unclear at the time why he ran from police," Coon said.
She said Sorrells was booked on 11 misdemeanor charges, including suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, obstructing a police officer and driving without a license and insurance.
He was being held Tuesday at the Las Vegas City Jail pending an initial court appearance on murder charges in the slayings, as well as the traffic offenses. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.
