Local
Henderson man charged in fatal shootings of sister and her child’s father
Police say a dispute over cleaning preceded the fatal shootings of Valencia Hampton and Christopher Perry at a Henderson apartment. Andre D’Jallon Thigpen faces two open-murder counts and firearm-related charges.
A 22-year-old Henderson man faces murder charges in the fatal shootings of his sister and the father of her child after an argument about cleanliness, according to police and court records.
Henderson police arrested Andre D’Jallon Thigpen on Oct. 23 in connection with the deaths of Valencia Hampton and Christopher Perry, both 32. The Clark County coroner’s office determined that both died from multiple gunshot wounds and classified their deaths as homicides.
Thigpen faces two felony counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and three felony counts of discharging a firearm from or within a structure or vehicle, Henderson Justice Court records show. The charges are allegations; the case had not been resolved in court.
Officers responded to a 911 call about gunshots at about 7 a.m. at Cascade Apartments, near East Lake Mead Parkway and East Warm Springs Road. They found Hampton and Perry wounded inside an apartment. Both were pronounced dead at the scene despite life-saving efforts by Henderson Fire Department personnel.
According to the arrest report, Hampton and Thigpen lived together with Hampton’s middle-school-aged son. Perry lived elsewhere with his brother and father, and co-parented the boy with Hampton. The boy told investigators he had stayed at Perry’s home the night before the shooting because Hampton and Thigpen had been arguing.
The boy said he went to his mother’s apartment to get ready for school on Oct. 23 and found Hampton and Thigpen arguing about him not cleaning up after himself. Perry joined the dispute, the report says. The boy then left for school on his electric scooter before the shooting.
The boy also told investigators that Hampton and Thigpen had argued about his cleanliness two nights earlier. During that earlier dispute, Thigpen repeatedly poked his sister, Hampton struck him, and the two struggled over a door, according to the report. The boy said it was the only time he had seen family members act aggressively toward one another.
Police arrested Thigpen near Lake Las Vegas at about 9:10 a.m. Investigators said he had driven away in Hampton’s car and crashed it near a bicycle shop along East Lake Mead Parkway. Police said they found a black handgun and ammunition in a backpack he had with him. The arrest report says Thigpen declined to speak with detectives.
Perry’s brother told police that Perry and Hampton lived in separate apartments and that Thigpen and Perry had a good relationship, according to the report. Thigpen’s next court hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, court records showed.