Man killed by shotgun blast

Clovis police have obtained an open murder warrant for an 18-year-old man in connection with the death of a 20-year-old man who was shot early Wednesday morning.

Sgt. Roger Grah said in a police department press release that Clovis resident Adam Crespin has been charged with the death of Lavon Harris, 20, who recently moved to Clovis from Fort Worth, Texas.

The police incident report said Harris was shot in the lower abdomen by a shotgun blast about 1:40 a.m. in the stairway of Building 10 of the Clovis Apartments at 1000 N. Martin Luther King Blvd.

Crespin lived in an apartment adjacent to the hallway where Harris was shot and had not been located since the incident, police said.

Clovis Police Chief Bill Carey said he didn’t have information on possible motives.

“The only thing we know at this point is some people heard an argument and after that there was the shooting,” Carey said. “We’re going to count on the news media and people who might know the suspect and any avenue we can explore to find out where he’s at.”

Although Wednesday’s incident was the third homicide this year in Clovis, Carey said he’s optimistic Harris’ death will follow the same pattern as the earlier deaths of Carlos Murillo and Ricky Gallegos.

“We have made arrests in the first two homicides and we will make an arrest in this one, too,” Carey said. “We have a name, we have a warrant, and it’s just a matter of time until we pick him up.”

That arrest can’t come soon enough for Rosie Green, a neighbor in the Clovis Apartments who plans to move soon.

“I don’t like walking through here any more,” Green said. “I don’t know why anyone would stay here when someone was killed downstairs.”

Another neighbor, a 17-year-old who said he’s lived in Clovis about a year but declined to give his name, said he came to like Harris after the latter moved to Clovis about two months ago.

“I can’t believe this happened so fast; I just saw him last night,” he said.

“He was a pretty cool guy,” he said. “We used to just hang out and joke a lot. He was an all around good guy.”

Carey said the best thing people can do now to help the police is call in tips about Crespin’s whereabouts to the Clovis Police Department at 769-1921 or Curry County Crime Stoppers at 763-7000.