LAS VEGAS—
Family members of a murdered Las Vegas police officer who grew up in Yakima say if it wasn't for a Seattle police officer, they might not be able to attend their loved one's funeral.30-year-old Trevor Nettleton was off-duty and in his garage when police say he was shot and killed during an attempted robbery last Thursday. Five suspected gang members mostly in their late teens or early twenties are facing charges for the crime, and the family says they were told Nettleton wasn't a target, it was just a random attack.
"Trevor was a great man, he would've given these kids the shirt off of his back, if they'd asked him," said Nettleton's cousin Shellie Sappa, "if they needed anything, he would've given it to him, cause that's the person he was."
Sappa says a memorial service for Nettleton is scheduled for Tuesday in Las Vegas, and his funeral on Wednesday. She says a Seattle officer heard about the murder and offered up a free airline ticket to the family, which will allow his local cousins and their children to make it to both.
"Almost our whole entire family is going to be able to be at this funeral to pay our respects to Trevor because of the people in this community," Sappa said.
Nettleton graduated in 1997 from Davis High school, and his father, a retired Washington State Patrol trooper, lives in nearby Moxee. His father told the Yakima Herald-Republic that his son followed him into police work after spending nine years in the Marines.
Sappa says Nettleton was building a bench for his young son in the garage at the time of the attempted robbery, and when the attack happened, he was able to fire off a few rounds and even hit one of the suspects.
Three of those suspects were arraigned Monday in Las Vegas. The mother of one of the suspects says she was surprised her son, Prentice Marshall, could be involved in a murder.
"This is just new to us, not in his character to be involved with something like this," Marshall's mother told reporters, "I don't believe my son did that but we don't know were just trying to get answers just like you guys are."
Right now all five men are facing robbery and murder charges, regardless of who pulled the trigger that killed Nettleton. Police say they have recovered the murder weapon.
More than 6,000 police officers are expected to pay their respects at Nettleton's funeral on Wednesday.
