21-year-old sent to prison for 2004 drug-related slaying

A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 14 to 55 years in prison Tuesday for a 2004 drug-related killing.

Gervin Gomez pleaded guilty in March to the murder of 22-year-old Juan Flores. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy, robbery and kidnapping charges.

Police were called to a desert area Feb. 21, 2004, south of Lake Mead Boulevard, about two miles east of Los Feliz Drive, where they found Flores' body. His throat had been cut, and he had lacerations to his abdomen.

According to the police report, Flores went to an apartment at 1750 E. Karen Road, where he got in a fight with Gomez and two other men, one of whom had a knife.

A neighbor told police he saw the three men leading Flores out of the apartment and into a car. Flores had a red rag over his head and appeared to be bleeding.

The three men killed Flores in the desert area where his body was found, according to the police report.

A prostitute dating one of the men involved told police she heard Gomez say, "I guess I'll have to kill him now," as the men led Flores out of the apartment to his car. The woman said she saw Gomez two hours later and he said he was in trouble because he did it.

Gomez's sentence was recommended to District Judge Donald Mosley by the prosecutor, the Department of Parole and Probation and Gomez's defense attorney Ivette Maningo.

According to a sentencing memorandum written by the defense, Maningo stated Gomez was threatened into aiding the two other men, Ismael Nava-Garcia, also known as "Roberto," and his son-in-law, "Domingo."

The two fled after they killed Flores and have not been caught, Maningo stated.

Flores was convicted of drug possession, a felony, in Clark County in 2003, deported and re-entered the country illegally.

Gomez said Flores showed up at the Karen Road apartment on Feb. 16, 2004, and argued with Nava-Garcia, about drug dealing and their roles as suppliers and dealers before the two began fighting.