LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas police announced Sunday night that they have arrested a 27-year-old man in connection with an altercation outside a nightclub that left a Southern California father of five dead.
James Beach, also known as James Michael Garcia, was taken into custody without incident after he was identified as the person who fatally struck 45-year-old Louie Campos, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release.
He was booked at the Clark County Detention and faces a count of open murder, the release stated.
A second person was interviewed and was “no longer being sought by detectives,” police said.
Beach is accused of fatally punching the victim following an altercation outside a nightclub in the 500 block of Fremont Street around 1:30 a.m. on April 30, police said. Before the arrest, police released surveillance video and Campos’ heartbroken family spoke with KTLA, describing their last moments with him:
The incident appeared to have been unprovoked.
Drake Garibay, one of the victim's brothers, was with Campos at the time of the attack. He told KTLA on Friday that Campos had been approached by a man who went up to him, asked what he was looking at and then struck him.
Campos was "sucker punched," according to a GoFundMe fundraising page.
“My brother didn’t even have a chance to respond, the guy already punched him,” Garibay said. “I held his head in my hand, and he wasn’t coming back.”
Officers responded to the scene after a report of a fight and found Campos on the sidewalk with a life-threatening head injury. He was taken to a hospital where he died a few days later, according to police.
Campos had been in Las Vegas at a bachelor party to celebrate his brother's upcoming wedding. He was to have been the best man, according to a separate GoFundMe page.
In an interview with KTLA, Joyce Garibay -- Campos' mother -- said she watched as her grandchildren say goodbye to their father.
The wedding has been put on hold.
“Everything’s been postponed, because now we’re going to bury my son," she told KTLA.
Campos leaves behind children: three are teenagers; two are under the age of 3.
He was the oldest of Garibay's four sons, and also the grieving mother's best friend. She described him as “proud,” “dependable” and “loving.”
The incident remains under investigation, and anyone with information is urged to call the department's Homicide Section at 702-828-352, or email detectives at homicide@lvmpd.com.
Anonymous tips can be left through Crime Stoppers by dialing 702-385-5555, or by going to the website http://www.crimestoppersofnv.com.
