Detective: Coroner did not identify whose gunfire killed boy, 3

A Metropolitan Police Department detective testified Wednesday that the coroner did not specify whether officers or Quinton Baker fired the shots that killed his 3-year-old son, Kentre, during a Feb. 3 confrontation at a south Las Vegas apartment complex. Detective Brian Walter of the Force Investigation Team spoke during a fact-finding review held after the Clark County district attorney's office declined to prosecute the officers involved in Baker's death.

Police previously stated Baker killed his son. The official cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds — one to the left buttock that perforated the femoral artery and one to the head. "The coroner did not specifically say, 'This shot came from this weapon, or this shot came from his weapon,'" Walter said.

According to testimony, officers responded after Baker's girlfriend, Raneka Pate, called 911 to report he had assaulted her and a friend, shot at a vehicle's tire, and took her son. Pate told police an argument over Baker's sexual orientation preceded the assault and that Baker said he would not go to jail, threatening, "I'm blowing Kentre's brains out and blowing mine out."

Body camera footage showed Baker walking toward officers while holding his son and pointing a gun at the child's chest. Lt. Ammon Peacock can be heard saying, "Why are you shooting 100 shots?" Officer Damon O'Donnell fired two rounds and Officer Jonathan Lo fired three. Walter said Baker fired seven rounds total — two before police arrived and five during the encounter — and that muzzle flashes indicated he fired toward his son and the ground.

At a Feb. 5 briefing, Assistant Sheriff Bryan Peterson said the child was being held hostage and that Baker's intent was to kill the boy and himself. "In this situation, officers have milliseconds to make a decision. Their ultimate goal is to save that baby's life," Peterson said. "That suspect chose those actions and followed through with what his intent was. He killed his son."

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal