In the early morning hours of April 24, 2008, 45-year-old Santos Mercado was shot dead after answering his front door at his Las Vegas home on Harris Avenue near Lamb Boulevard. Woken by his Chihuahuas and a rustling outside, Mercado opened the door at about 12:30 a.m. and was struck twice, once in the stomach and once in the shoulder. His longtime girlfriend and teenage daughter were awakened by his screams. The one-story house showed signs of a violent struggle: blood smeared in the hallway, spatters near a bathroom door and shotgun blast holes in the bedroom door.

Mercado had moved into the house with his family the previous December and was described as a construction worker known for generosity and hosting family gatherings. Police say a related attack occurred five weeks earlier in March when someone forced entry and fired shotgun rounds at him as he left for work; he was not hit then but pellet marks remained on a kitchen wall. Detectives developed several theories, including mistaken identity tied to the home’s prior residents and possible contact from a former girlfriend, but no suspects were announced and the killer’s identity remains unknown.

If anyone knew Santos, the people he spent time with, or noticed suspicious activity around that Harris Avenue home in early 2008, please share what you know.