Jade Morris, Child Missing After Casino Stabbing, Found Dead

The Huffington Post
David Lohr
December 27, 2012

The body of 10-year-old Jade Morris was found in a Nevada desert on Thursday, according to family members.

The discovery was made by a man walking his dog near an unfinished housing development in the northern stretches of the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas Metro Police said.

Family members told the Black and Missing Foundation that they visually identified the remains for police, who have not yet released a statement positively identifying the body.

“We are heartbroken today. It has been confirmed by family members that the body of … Jade Morris has been found. We pray for her family,” Natalie Wilson, co-founder of the organization, told The Huffington Post.

Wilson said the family wasn’t told the cause of death.

Jade was last seen Friday by family members, when she got into a red, 2007 four-door Saab with her father’s fiancee, 50-year-old Brenda Stokes, also known as Brenda Wilson. Jade’s father was out of town at the time.

“Jade went shopping with [Stokes] at about 4:50 p.m., but by 9 p.m. they had not returned,” Morris’ godmother, Ni’cola Mitchell, told HuffPost on Wednesday.

When Stokes failed to return with Jade, the little girl’s mother contacted police and reported her missing. The girl’s mother then learned Stokes had been arrested at the Bellagio casino, following a violent altercation with another woman.

According to the Las Vegas Police Department, Stokes was arrested at about 10 p.m. Friday, accused of slashing the face of friend and co-worker Joyce Rhone, 44, several times with “an edged blade.” Rhone was admitted to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center with deep lacerations to her face, police said.

Stokes told police she would have killed Rhone if casino security had not intervened.

“Hell, yeah,” Stokes told investigators, according to a police report obtained by the Las Vegas Review Journal. “I would have whooped that ass. I would have killed her. I should have killed her.”

Stokes was charged with battery with a deadly weapon, battery with use of a deadly weapon with substantial bodily harm and mayhem.

Jade Morris’ father interrupted Stokes first court appearance Wednesday, shouting “Where’s my baby at?” A Las Vegas Justice Court bailiff ushered him out of the court proceeding.

Stokes was held at the Clark County jail. She has not been charged in connection with Jade’s death.

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