LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Documents that Channel 13 received shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the killings of a Las Vegas woman and toddler on Monday, March 2.
Danaijha Robinson and 18-month-old Nhalani Hiner were shot while sitting inside a blue 2014 Hyundai Accent near Victoria Medici and Piazza Tuscano.
22-year-old Ziaire Jacob Ham was identified as the suspect and arrested on March 3 after a vehicle pursuit in Ogden, Utah.
Mary Kielar talks to neighbors about what they heard and saw the night of the shooting:
Documents reveal that Ham had allegedly stolen a black Mazda SUV in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier that day and driven to his mother's house in Las Vegas, according to the declaration of warrant.
While at his mother's house, Ham had allegedly gotten into an argument with his mother and his mother's boyfriend and pointed a gun at the boyfriend. Afterwards, he left the house, according to documents.
Ham told detectives he felt he was being followed by people with gang affiliations after leaving his mother's house. He said he drove to a residential neighborhood because he thought anyone following him would stand out there, the declaration states.
He said two cars followed him into the neighborhood — a gray car and a blue car. After waiting about 20 minutes for the occupants to get out, Ham said he approached the blue car's passenger side. He told detectives he saw one person in the driver's seat and opened fire.
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"That's when I lit up the car, I ain't even gonna lie," Ham told detectives, according to the declaration.
When detectives asked if Ham had seen anyone else in the car, Ham responded, "Why, was someone else in the car?" They told him a child was in the car.
"I didn't mean to kill that person," he said. "I killed a child, I killed a child," the declaration states.
Robinson was pronounced dead at 9:46 p.m., and the child was pronounced dead at 10:01 p.m. An autopsy determined both had died from gunshot wounds.
A source told Channel 13 that just before the shooting, Robinson, the toddler, the toddler's mother, and another woman were traveling in a small "caravan," driving behind another car.
Police had stopped one of the cars, a 2021 gray Dodge Charger, for traffic offenses. According to the declaration, Nhalani's mother and another woman got out of the blue Hyundai and went to help their friend during the nearby traffic stop, while Robinson and the child stayed in the parked car. Minutes later, gunshots rang out, and the police officers conducting the traffic stop went to investigate.
Ham was arrested on two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and shooting into an occupied structure/vehicle. He is expected to be extradited back to Las Vegas to face charges.
