LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Las Vegas detectives are trying to piece together what happened in the moments before a woman fatally shot her boyfriend with a shotgun over the weekend.
Officers who arrived at the apartment in the 900 block of Twain Avenue on Saturday were told the shooting that killed Jahmal Rogers was an accident.
37-year-old Shanika Smith, Rogers' girlfriend, is accused of shooting him. According to an arrest report obtained by 13 Action News, Smith told detectives several versions of the events that led up to the shooting.
Police were told Smith and Rogers had argued throughout the day leading up to the shooting. Earlier in the day, Smith said Rogers had "battered" her teenage son and pointed the shotgun at his head. Rogers had retrieved the shotgun again after arguing with their neighbors and then began to "play" with their 1-year-old son by "pointing the shotgun and chasing him with it."
Smith said she and Rogers also "played" with the gun by pointing it and taking it away from each other, according to the report. Smith told police she believed the gun was not loaded.
Smith told police Rogers had been shot when she'd pointed the gun at him, he'd grabbed it, and it "accidentally discharged."
Police questioned her further on the nature of the alleged game between her and Rogers, at which point she provided another version of events, according to the report. Smith reportedly said she had pointed the gun at Rogers while he was on the phone with his ex-girlfriend, and she accidentally shot him when he went to grab the gun from her again.
A press release from the Las Vegas police department on Tuesday said Rogers had been shot during an argument.
Smith was arrested for open murder and child endangerment.
