On December 24, 2018, 18-year-old Kwavon-tai Thomas was shot multiple times and died in his brother’s arms in a CVS parking lot near East Lake Mead Boulevard and McDaniel Street in North Las Vegas. Witnesses said Thomas ran from an individual before gunfire was heard at about 4:45 p.m.; bystanders and officers tried to help but he succumbed at the scene.

Investigators tied the shooting to a prior dispute. Family members said the conflict may have begun in a social media feud involving a girl, and both Thomas and the suspect reportedly had been on the same bus earlier the day it escalated. After the shooting, the suspect was seen jumping over a wall and fleeing.

A suspect was identified and arrested in the days after the killing: 17-year-old Jermariun Hickman was taken into custody in Laughlin and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a felony murder with a deadly weapon charge.

Kwavon-tai, known to family as Nudie and to friends as K3, was a senior at Valley High School, a football player, and the caring older brother of six. If anyone knew Kwavon-tai or has information about what happened that afternoon, please share what is known.