LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas man accused of killing his neighbor for blocking part of his driveway with his car is a suspect in a second parking-related shooting that remained unsolved for more than a year, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
Robert Salone, 41, is accused of killing Christopher Allen, 34, on Oct. 18, 2022. Las Vegas Metro police arrested Salone on a murder charge a month later.
The shooting happened on Tipper Avenue near the intersection of Hacienda Avenue and Nellis Boulevard in the southeast valley. The men lived across the street from each other.
Police said before the shooting, Salone and Allen were arguing about Allen’s car partially blocking Salone’s driveway. Allen called 911 around 12:40 p.m. on the day of the murder, saying someone shot him, records the 8 News Now Investigators obtained said.
Stacie Owens, Allen’s girlfriend, has not moved in the months since.
“This was the last place I was with him,” Owens said. “It’s hard for me to just want to get up and leave from here.”
Owens described Allen, “Dice” as his friends called him, the love of her life. They had dated for almost four years, creating a blended family and moving into the Tipper Avenue home just weeks before the murder, Owens said.
That day started like this: Owens, who was not at home to witness her boyfriend’s death, first heard from her daughter who said the nearby school she attends was on lockdown. Owens then texted Allen who did not respond. Owens rushed home, finding the neighborhood blocked off with police tape.
A detective then pulled Owens aside, confirmed her identity, and told her Allen was dead.
“She said there was some kind of confrontation over parking,” Owens said about the conversation.
Allen and another neighbor were working on their cars that October afternoon with Allen’s car blocking part of Salone’s driveway, homicide detectives said. Salone, who Owens said she nor Allen had ever met, returned home, finding access to his driveway blocked, police said. Allen could immediately not move his car because he was in the middle of changing a tire, police said. Records indicate Allen indicated he could move the car within minutes.
Moments later, Salone allegedly went into his home, retrieved two self-assembled ghost guns, and fired two shots into Allen’s car, documents said. Allen ran into his home across the street as Salone followed him, police said.
“Hey, this dude over here is shooting at me,” Allen is recorded as saying in a 911 call the 8 News Now Investigators obtained. Seconds later, the call captures the sound of another man’s voice and a gunshot.
The voice said, “[expletive] enjoy it” before what detectives believe is the fatal shot to Allen’s chest, documents said.
The bullet passed through Allen’s body and into a wall near Owens’ front door. Allen collapsed and made a second call to 911. He was able to provide dispatchers with his address before going silent. Fifteen minutes later, with the line still open, officers arrive, finding Allen on the floor.
‘It’s a constant reminder,” Owens said about the bullet hole in her wall, unplastered since the October murder.
Salone drove off in the family vehicle after the shooting.
Police would soon learn the gunshot to Allen’s chest and the two others lodged in Allen’s car were not the only ones Salone allegedly fired over a parking spot. In August 2021, a person who took up two parking spaces at a Henderson apartment complex also became Salone’s victim, documents said.
The person, a young man who was visiting friends at the complex on Whitney Ranch Drive near Russell Road, told police he “double parked” in a covered-parking area, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained said. About a half-hour later, the man returned to his car, finding another vehicle parked “within inches” of his door, documents said.
A man, who detectives and prosecutors suspect is Salone, was also there, arguing with the visitor about his parking job, documents said. Detectives in Henderson believe Salone fired three shots at that driver who said the man shot at him as he was leaving the complex, documents said.
It was not until the bullets in the two crime scenes matched in a police database that police tied Salone to the two parking-related crimes.
“The first thing that caught my attention was they couldn’t identify this person,” retired Nevada Department of Public Safety Capt. Scot Martin said about Henderson police’s investigation. “It could be a hard thing to solve.”
Documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained reveal the August 2021 parking-related shooting was labeled “gang-related.” Detectives also said the victim “was not forthcoming” with information and later recommended the case be closed.
Detectives believe Salone lived at that complex for at least a month after the 2021 shooting, even though his girlfriend had signed a lease through the following March, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained said. Police believe Salone, his girlfriend and other family members then moved to the Tipper Avenue home.
Martin agrees finding Salone would prove difficult with no evidence other than a suspect description and bullet fragments. There is no indication in documents the 8 News Now Investigators reviewed that there was video surveillance of the shooting.
While Salone is listed in Clark County Detention Center booking records as a 41-year-old Black male, investigators in Henderson listed their suspect as a white man between 30 and 35, documents said.
“There may have been something in that investigation that just didn’t look right,” Martin said.
Ultimately, ballistics testing from Las Vegas Metro police and information from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network showed bullets fired from Salone’s ghost guns matched both incidents, documents said.
“It’s absolutely insane,” Owens said. “This isn’t something you hear about every single day.”
Owens wishes Henderson police had solved the parking spot shooting in their jurisdiction before officers said the same man killed her partner. She recorded video as police once again swarmed her neighborhood on Nov. 22, taking Salone into custody at the home across the street.
“It wasn’t even the love of my life,” she said. “That was my best friend, and I will never see him again.”
The 8 News Now Investigators attempted to contact the Henderson shooting victim and witnesses listed on a police report but did not receive a response.
Henderson police did not respond to a request for comment on their investigation as of Thursday.
Salone declined to answer questions from jail. A jury trial for charges of murder, attempted murder and others connected to both parking-related shootings was scheduled for September.
