Elenita Ablao, 59, was working a Sunday shift at a licensed group-care home on West Washington Avenue in Las Vegas when violence erupted on December 30, 2012. Police found Ablao and an 82-year-old resident, Henry Namett, dead of severe head wounds consistent with a hammer attack. Neighbors described the small assisted-living residence as normally quiet until the sudden commotion that afternoon.

Detectives focused on another resident, David Hamilton Settle, who was found inside wearing only a diaper and with injuries to his ankles and head that were described as suggestive of a failed suicide attempt. The arrest report says Settle told investigators he struck each victim in the head more than twenty times with a hammer; he was arrested that day on two counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon. Court action soon turned to Settle’s mental status after his attorney reported signs of a condition related to Alzheimer’s disease and a judge ordered competency and psychological evaluations.

News coverage at the time reported no clear motive; contemporaneous reports emphasized custodial detention without bail and the court’s effort to determine whether Settle could stand trial. Ablao’s death was mourned in obituary notices that remembered her as a caregiver, and the address became linked with the tragedy. If anyone knew Elenita Ablao, the home where she worked, or has information about that day, please come forward.