Las Vegas Casino District Stabbing Suspect Faces Murder Charge in Cellmate’s Death: Report

Posted on: December 16, 2020, 04:08h.

Last updated on: December 16, 2020, 04:39h.

Larry Henry Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

A man already in police custody for a knife attack in downtown Las Vegas now faces a murder charge in the beating death of a fellow inmate, according to a news report.

Police said a Clark County Detention Center inmate was hospitalized in an attack on Sunday. The victim’s cellmate was 39-year-old Steven Revell, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Revell had been booked in an earlier knife attack in the downtown Las Vegas casino district.

The victim in the jailhouse attack was taken off life support on Tuesday and has died, police said. Authorities have not released his name.

Officer Larry Hadfield of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said officials will seek a murder charge in the death.

On Sunday, an officer conducting a walk-through at the detention center noticed an inmate inside a cell who “appeared unresponsive,” Hadfield said.

“Corrections officers entered the cell and detained his cellmate,” Hadfield said in an email to the newspaper. The injured person was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Hadfield told the newspaper the injuries were severe enough that homicide detectives were dispatched to investigate. This led to a determination that the cellmate was “responsible” for the attack, the newspaper reported.

Downtown Stabbing

Earlier this month, Revell was booked into the detention center in an attack at the Fremont Street Experience entertainment district. Fremont Street, known as Glitter Gulch, is lined on both sides with casinos.

Revell is accused of stabbing a Nebraska man three times in the back in an unprovoked attack on Dec. 5, police said.

I stabbed him as much as I could,” the suspect said in a statement to police. “I tried to get him good, near the spine.”

The incident occurred when an unidentified Nebraska man became separated from friends and stopped to call them, according to the newspaper.

The man had been in Las Vegas on a job and went downtown for drinks with co-workers. While stopped, he heard some “pounding (like running) behind him, and then he felt pain in his back,” according to an arrest report.

The suspect stabbed the man with a knife, penetrating his back with stab wounds up to 1-inch deep, the newspaper reported. A knife was recovered at the scene.

The Nebraska man survived the stabbing, according to the newspaper.

Revell, who is homeless, was arrested less than an hour after the incident, according to the newspaper. Surveillance video helped in identifying the suspect, police said.

Revell was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, battery with use of a deadly weapon, and possession of heroin, the newspaper reported.

Violent Incidents

In recent months, the combined city-county police department, known locally as Metro, has stepped up its presence in the tourists areas.

This is in response to a surge of violence during the summer and fall. Metro refers to this program as “Operation Persistent Pressure.” The Nevada Highway Patrol has assisted in the effort.

Several people in recent months have been hospitalized in shootings at different locations on the Strip and nearby tourist areas. The Strip is south of downtown Las Vegas, outside city limits.