LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nearly two dozen rounds were fired when a fight between two groups broke out at a teen house party in mid-February. When it was over, one 17-year-old was dead and another would be left facing a murder charge.
Armon Watkins, 17, is accused of shooting and killing 17-year-old Luigi Luna at a party on E. Cedar Avenue near Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road on Feb. 17, 2023. He was arrested last week, more than two months after the shooting.
According to the arrest report, police were able to identify Watkins and others at the party through police body-worn camera footage, witness statements, and a fingerprint on a stolen vehicle.
The report said Watkins and two friends arrived at the house party in a stolen Lexus. It was the same vehicle used to take Luna to Sunrise Hospital where he was pronounced dead after suffering a gunshot wound to the chest.
During the party, two different groups got into an argument. Watkins and Luna were in one group and Alexander Ramirez was in the other group. The situation escalated when Ramirez pulled out a gun and “racked a round and pointed the gun” at the other group, the report said. A warrant has been issued for Ramirez’s arrest.
Ramirez and his friends left the house as did the other group and that’s when the shooting began, according to the arrest report.
Watkins was in a group that ran into an alley when he noticed Luna was no longer with them and he left the group to look for him. During that time, the stolen vehicle drove into the alley creating concern it might be the other group. One female who saw Luna in the vehicle, along with the two friends who accompanied Watkins to the party, jumped in front of the vehicle and yelled “It’s them don’t shoot” and then saw Watkins fire two rounds into the car, the report stated.
Luna was in the front passenger seat when he was shot. Witnesses told police, Watkins fled from the scene.
The report said after the shooting, Watkins called a friend to apologize for what happened saying he was trying to protect them.
Watkins is facing a charge of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon, discharging a gun into an occupied structure/vehicle, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
