Footprints help Henderson police arrest murder suspect

84-year-old woman shot, home ransacked

An 84-year-old woman was shot in the head inside of her apartment, which was ransacked and torched. Her jewelry, cash and wallet were missing from the apartment.

Left behind, however, were a set of footprints that helped the Henderson Police Department identify a suspect.

Partial footprints from a pair of Nike Air Jordan sneakers led officers Wednesday to arrest Vernon McClelland Jr., on suspicion of the July 6 shooting death of Donna McElfresh, according to an arrest report. McClelland, 29, faces charges of murder, first-degree arson and burglary.

“No known family members or persons allowed inside of the victim’s residence owns or wears this particular style of shoe,” the report said.

The prints left behind in McElfresh’s apartment at 501 E. Lake Mead Parkway, near Boulder Highway, matched the bottoms of the sneakers that security footage showed McClelland wearing at two pawn shops in the Las Vegas Valley within 48 hours of the killing, the report said.

Pawn shop receipts and an interview with McElfresh’s daughter, Daleyn McElfresh, indicated he had pawned her jewelry, the report said.

During a warranted search Tuesday of McClelland’s apartment, police discovered a pair of Air Jordans with “a very strong similar sole pattern” to the footprints found inside of her apartment.

Police and fire officials were initially called July 6 to a fire at McElfresh’s apartment. Emergency responders found her in the burning apartment with trauma to her head and face, police said.

The Henderson Fire Department freed her from the apartment and doused the fire, but she ultimately died at St. Rose Dominican Hospital, de Lima campus. The Clark County coroner’s office said she died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Fire investigators determined the fire was intentionally lit, the report said. A burned towel was draped over the kitchen stove, and all four burner knobs from the kitchen stove had been set to “on.”

Police later noted the apartment appeared to have been ransacked; wooden drawers, jewelry and other belongings were piled in her bathroom tub. McElfresh was known to wear numerous pieces of jewelry, but she was missing “the majority of her bracelets and rings” at the time of her autopsy, the report said.

Through the course of their investigation, Henderson detectives learned McClelland was a relative of a family that lived in a nearby apartment. Police learned he would’ve likely known that McElfresh wore jewelry and lived alone, the arrest report said. During the Tuesday search of McClelland’s Center Street apartment, police also found ammunition, a silver 9 mm handgun, costume jewelry necklaces and some clothing McClelland was seen wearing while at the pawn shops.

Additionally, detectives also matched the head stamp of a spent cartridge found in McElfresh’s bedroom to that of a live round loaded in McClellan’s silver handgun.

McClelland also faces burglary and stolen property related charges.

McElfresh’s death marked the fifth homicide in Henderson this year.

Vernon McClelland Jr.