Man held in knife attacks in Vegas named in 3rd killing

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A third stabbing death of a homeless person on a Las Vegas sidewalk was linked Monday to a man already in custody pending competency evaluations following his arrest last September in knife attacks on four people, including two who died.

Christopher Stephen Martell, 33, was identified by police as the suspect in the killing of Jeffrey Philip Pridgen, 43.

Pridgen was found early Feb. 15, 2022, on a sidewalk not far from where the September attacks occurred on streets around the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The Clark County coroner said Pridgen had no known address and died of stab wounds to the head, neck and torso. His death was ruled a homicide.

Mace Yampolsky, the defense attorney representing Martell following his Sept. 21 arrest on multiple murder and attempted murder charges, said he was not immediately aware Monday about the new case.

Police said little about evidence in Pridgen’s slaying, and court records did not immediately reflect a court date for Martell’s arraignment.

Martell was deemed unfit in October to immediately face criminal charges following an evaluation to determine his fitness to face criminal charges in the September cases.

A woman in her 30s and an older man in a wheelchair were attacked on Flamingo Road minutes before Martell’s arrest, and police linked Martell to the killings a few days earlier of 57-year-old Jody Devries and 74-year-old Mary Susan Miller.

All four people were described by authorities as homeless.