LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A local family is grieving after 30-year-old Marcos Anthony Rocha was stabbed and killed in an alley in the central valley last week.
“He was always trying to get everybody to start dancing,” Martha Santos recalled of her son.
Santos told 8 News Now, Rocha was a father, a son, and a friend who was known for the light he brought to life.
“He was just a good kid with a good heart,” Santos said. “He helped everybody.”
Last week that was suddenly stolen, when police said Rocha was stabbed and killed near Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn around 1:00 a.m. Saturday.
“I need to know, is the why,” Santos said. “Why kill him.”
Santos said Rocha was on his way home from a friend’s house when he was attacked, his phone and wallet taken.
Records show that 27-year-old Joshua Franklin Billings was later arrested in connection with the crime. He now faces a charge of open murder.
“This person that did this to my son,” Santos said. “Has no idea what he took away from us.”
Now, as she and everyone who loved Marcos try to come to terms with their grief, they’re also doing their best to demand justice and remember everything Marcos brought to the world.
“That to me was reality,” Santos recalled. “When they asked what casket I want for my son at age 30.”
This, as Rocha’s family is also focusing on remembering the happiness he brought to those who were able to know him.
Franklin is currently being held without bail. He is due back in court on December 13.
If you’d like to help Rocha’s family raise money for funeral expenses, they currently have a GoFundMe up under his name.
