A 36-year-old Las Vegas man is facing an open murder charge after a 27-year-old was found shot to death and left in the desert near Sloan in June, the latest turn in a case that has quietly moved through Clark County’s courts for months.
Authorities identified the victim as Winston Ricketts and say the grand jury indictment comes after an extended homicide investigation that pulled in tips, digital communications and other documents reviewed by detectives. The accused, Aaron Jackson Jr., was arrested on a warrant and is being held without bail as he waits for a Dec. 1 court appearance.
According to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department news release, officers were called on June 21 to a desert area near the 17000 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard by Sloan, where they found a man suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. That discovery launched a homicide investigation.
Citing local reporting and court filings, 8 News Now reports that a Clark County grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging Jackson with open murder. The same outlet notes Jackson was arrested on a warrant on Oct. 26, with a judge denying bail. Investigators reportedly zeroed in on Jackson after an anonymous tip and a review of messages between him and Ricketts, and court testimony has stated that Ricketts died of multiple gunshot wounds, including shots to his back.
Timeline and earlier reporting
Hoodline first covered the June discovery, noting LVMPD’s initial release and the remote location near Sloan Road and Interstate 15. KTNV also reported at the time that homicide detectives were investigating the scene and that police were asking the public for tips. After that early attention, public updates were sparse until prosecutors’ filings and the grand jury indictment surfaced this week.
What an "open murder" charge means
In Nevada, prosecutors sometimes file an “open murder” charge when they allege a killing without locking in a specific degree of homicide at the outset. It is a way to keep all options on the table while detectives continue to build the case. State courts have held that an open murder complaint can encompass first-degree murder as well as any lesser, necessarily included offenses, a point that shows up in Nevada case law on preliminary hearings and grand jury practice. One early example is the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision in Wrenn v. Sheriff, as archived by Justia, which explains how magistrates may hold defendants on such charges when there is probable cause.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section at 702-828-3521 or [email protected], or to submit anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers of Nevada at 702-385-5555 or via crimestoppersofnv.com. Detectives and prosecutors say the investigation is still active and that fresh leads could matter as the case works its way through the courts.
