Background: Bodycam footage of Ziaire Ham”s arrest on March 3 (Ogden Police Department). Insets (left to right): Danaijha Robinson and Nhalani Hiner (GoFundMe).
Authorities have announced the arrest of a man in Utah who is suspected of committing a double homicide in Nevada, resulting in the tragic deaths of a young woman and a baby she was holding.
The suspect, 22-year-old Ziaire Ham, was apprehended in Ogden on March 3. Police reported that Ham was driving a stolen vehicle when he allegedly carried out a fatal shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to the Ogden Police Department, Ham attempted to escape after officers tried to initiate a traffic stop. He was eventually captured and charged with receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, failing to stop for police, and reckless driving.
Following his arrest in Utah, Ham reportedly informed officers that he needed to converse with detectives from Las Vegas.
Documents from a criminal complaint accessed by KLAS, a CBS affiliate in Las Vegas, reveal that Ham claimed he was residing in Phoenix, Arizona, and had been visiting relatives in Las Vegas. He allegedly disclosed to police that after an altercation with family members, he brandished a gun at one of them before departing. Ham further alleged that someone had been following him upon his departure.
Ham reportedly told detectives that he felt alienated from his family, who he claimed started treating him like an outsider, and that he believed there was a “bounty on his head.”
While still in Las Vegas, Ham encountered a parked vehicle belonging to an unidentified woman who was waiting for a friend that had been stopped by police in a separate car. Inside her vehicle was her friend, 21-year-old Danaijha Robinson, who was holding the woman’s 1-year-old daughter, Nhalani Hiner, during the traffic stop.
Ham told police that when he saw the car, he “knew it did not belong there.” He parked his own car, got out, and walked up to the driver’s side window. Police said Ham demanded that the person inside exit the car. When the person inside did not comply, Ham allegedly fired nine shots into the car, then left.
According to the complaint, Ham told detectives, “[T]hat’s when I lit up the car, I ain’t even gonna lie.” Ham then reportedly became “hysterical” after realizing “I killed a child.” He told police he did not mean to kill anyone.
The alleged shooting was caught on surveillance video, which captured Ham firing into the car and firing again at the front of the car. Ham then ran back to his car and fled, police said.
Robinson and Nhalani were brought to a hospital where they were both pronounced dead. The Ogden Police Department confirmed that they found the alleged murder weapon and were working with authorities in Las Vegas.
Ham remains in custody at the Weber County Jail in Utah. He is expected to be extradited to Las Vegas to face charges of open murder with a deadly weapon. His next court date was not made available.
