A Nevada man is in jail without bail after being accused of stabbing his own son to death. The father, 81-year-old Juan Garcia-Hernandez, reportedly told police that his son, Nelson Garcia-Leon, had “fallen on a knife.” However, investigators say the evidence tells a different story.
The incident happened on December 22 in an apartment on Pebble Road near Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas. Around 1:00 p.m., Las Vegas Metropolitan Police received a call about a man with stab wounds to his chest. When first responders arrived, they found Garcia-Leon already dead. Nearby, officers discovered a bloody 15-inch knife hastily hidden behind an ice cooler.
The investigation began with a woman who described herself as Garcia-Leon’s “girlfriend,” though they had only known each other for about a month. She told police that Garcia-Leon and his father lived together in the apartment. She explained that she returned from shopping to find Garcia-Leon acting strangely before noticing blood on his chest and a knife on the ground.
When she asked Garcia-Hernandez what had happened, he allegedly claimed his son had fallen on the knife. The woman said she struggled to dial 911, mistakenly pressing extra numbers in her panic, and noticed that Garcia-Hernandez wasn’t helping his injured son. When she urged him to get help, he left the apartment.
Police spoke to Garcia-Hernandez, who admitted that he and his son had been arguing about his son’s drinking habits. He claimed that after Garcia-Leon collapsed, he sought help from neighbors, who assisted in moving his son to a bedroom. One neighbor eventually called 911, telling dispatchers that Garcia-Hernandez said his son had fallen on a knife. The neighbor also remarked that Garcia-Hernandez didn’t seem stressed or upset.
Detectives became suspicious when Garcia-Hernandez’s story kept changing. Their doubts grew when they found the knife hidden behind the cooler. It also came to light that Garcia-Hernandez had a history of threatening people with knives, including an incident just a few months earlier in May.
Garcia-Hernandez was arrested and charged with open murder. He is being held at the Clark County Jail in Las Vegas and is scheduled to appear in court on January 9. The investigation continues as authorities try to piece together what really happened in that apartment.
