Photo: Nevada Department of Corrections
An inmate serving a life sentence for a fatal bombing in Las Vegas has escaped from prison. Officials at the Southern Desert Correctional Center near Las Vegas realized that Porfirio Duarte-Herrera was missing during a headcount on Tuesday (September 27) morning but said he likely escaped on Friday.
Duarte-Herrera and his co-defendant, Omar Rueda-Denvers, were convicted of killing a hot dog stand vendor using a motion-activated bomb in a coffee cup placed on top of a car in the parking garage at the Luxor hotel-casino in 2007.
The victim, Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio, was the boyfriend of Rueda-Denvers' ex-girlfriend.
Both men were spared the death penalty and were instead sentenced to life in prison. Rueda-Denvers is in a different jail and remains in custody.
Officials did not say how Duarte-Herrera managed to escape or why it took so long to realize he was missing.
"My Office has ordered NDOC to conduct and complete a thorough investigation into this event as quickly as possible. This kind of security lapse cannot be permitted, and those responsible will be held accountable," Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said in a statement.