LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In response to the surprise testimony of the man prosecutors say chased two women around the Las Vegas Strip, then shot and killed them, prosecutors Wednesday played the police interrogation of the defendant immediately prior to his arrest for a Clark County jury.
Omar Talley, 38, is on trial for two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for the February 2016 shootings that killed two tourists in town to celebrate a graduation – Jennifer Chicas and Melissa Mendoza. Jerraud Jackson, the third shooting victim, survived and testified against Talley on the first day of trial.
Talley denied the shooting for the entire interrogation, often saying he was so drunk he could not remember leaving the Planet Hollywood parking lot, where he engaged with Jackson and the other two victims. The group brawled until security intervened, but police say Talley chased the victims by car and shot them in cold blood as they raced around Las Vegas Blvd.
“Could you stop saying I shot someone,” Talley told the police during the interrogation. “I didn’t shoot one, two or three people.”
But the police told him to “Take a minute to think,” before telling him he was under arrest.
“We’re not here talking to you because we think you did it,” one of the two detectives told Talley. “You’re here because you did it. It’s not a whodunit; it’s a you-done-it.”
Talley claimed that photos police showed of him holding the murder weapon were actually a BB gun and that he “didn’t shoot nobody.”
Police were, and are, certain Talley was the shooter, pressing Talley for a reason. Talley could not and would not provide such a reason.
“You’re the guy who just shot two women for nothing,” one detective said.
Talley’s attorney, in cross-examining the detective Wednesday, reinforced that Talley did not waver about his claims of innocence.
“Do you recall that Mr. Talley, no matter what techniques were used, constantly said, ‘I didn’t shoot, I didn’t do the shooting?’” defense attorney Christopher Oram asked the detective.
“Yes,” the detective said.
Court documents say police found a rental – driven by Talley –torched and completely burned, eventually tracing it to Talley by the vehicle identification number and partial license plate. Talley’s phone number appeared on the car rental application, prosecutors say. Court documents show Talley’s girlfriend had rented the car.
Unable to find the car at the time of the interrogation, police told Talley if he were innocent, he would show them where the car was. Talley told police he gave the car to another man, which police could not confirm.
“Where is it now,” the police asked.
In 2009 Talley was convicted of first-degree kidnapping and pandering of a child, court records show. Those court documents say he forced a minor into prostitution.
