Suspect charged in William ‘Skip’ Smith murder investigation
Las Vegas Police are searching for a man investigators allege killed William “Skip” Smith Jr. in August 2019.
An arrest warrant for Seig Isaac Chavez, 40, was issued following a lengthy investigation by LVPD.
Chavez has been charged with first-degree murder and felony tampering with evidence in the stabbing death of 71-year-old Smith. Smith’s body was found in an alleyway between 5th Street and 6th Street on Aug. 16, 2019.
According to the warrant affidavit filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court, investigators found Smith’s body surrounded by blood, and located a trail of blood leading to his body. In total, investigators cataloged 27 different spots where blood was found, and located a knife near Smith’s body.
Police immediately began checking footage from nearby security cameras, and using that footage, investigators were able to track Smith’s movements the night before his body was found. Around 6:40 p.m. Aug. 15., Smith was in the area of Grand Avenue and Baca Street, near the Little Moon restaurant. According to police, camera footage from nearby businesses shows Smith getting into a small pickup truck with another man. The truck left the area, driving south on Grand before turning onto westbound Washington Street.
A witness told police that before Smith got into the truck, they heard Chavez ask Smith if he wanted to go get food. According to police, the truck appeared to be a Chevy S10, possibly brown, with no mirrors and a toolbox in the bed.
On Aug. 26, police located a truck matching that description parked in front of a home near Our Lady of Sorrows Church on West National Street. The truck appeared to have been recently sanded and spray painted black. The truck’s registration listed it as a gold Chevy truck.
Chavez was the registered owner, and according to police, his driver’s license photo matched the description of the man seen in security camera footage near the Little Moon restaurant. Police waited outside the home for Chavez, and further determined he matched the description of the man seen on video.
Police obtained a search warrant for the truck, the home on West National Street and for an address in Tecolotito that Chavez’s relatives said he was living at.
Officers were able to locate Chavez at a store near Hot Springs Boulevard and Mills Avenue. During a pat down for weapons, police located five knives on Chavez.
Chavez told police someone had taken his truck without permission, but returned it. He also said he was currently homeless, and that he often helped others who are homeless by giving them rides, food and cigarettes.
During a search of Chavez’s truck, police found another knife, and it appeared that pieces of upholstery had been cut out.
When searching the home on National Street, police located several knives. And during a search of the home in Tecolotito, police found three more knives, a shotgun, 113 shotgun shells, 11 bottles of black spray paint and packaging for sandpaper. Police also located a jacket and a shoe with blood on them.
In December and early February, police received lab test results for those items which indicated that the blood on the jacket belonged to Smith, and that blood samples from the truck also matched Smith’s DNA.
According to an autopsy report from the Office of the Medical Investigator, Smith was stabbed or cut 24 times, including wounds to his head, neck, chest and stomach, with several of those stab wounds puncturing vital organs.
Smith was laid to rest Aug. 21 at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Las Vegas. Plans for a memorial park bench in Smith’s honor are currently being considered by city officials.
Anyone with information about Chavez’s whereabouts should call LVPD at 505-425-7504.
