LAS VEGAS—Las Vegas police say a woman in a laundromat was killed after reporting a man outside the establishment with a sledgehammer and that authorities believe the suspect beat her with the sledgehammer in an apparently random attack.
The woman told a dispatcher she was alone and that a man was outside with a sledgehammer before screaming was heard and the line disconnected a little after 5 a.m. on Aug. 29, Las Vegas police said.
Arriving officers found 36-year-old Clinton E. Taylor nearby, covered with blood and carrying a sledgehammer near the laundromat, police said.
The woman wasn’t immediately identified.
A statement from police said detectives think the killing was a random act of violence. Police say they don’t believe the woman knew the attacker.
Taylor was being held at the Clark County jail pending an initial court appearance Friday, during which he is expected to have an attorney appointed to his defense.