The criminal case against Leo’oolo Tevaseu moved from a North Las Vegas apartment scene in 2024 to a second-degree murder sentence in 2026.
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The case against Leo’oolo Tevaseu unfolded over nearly two years, beginning with an April 18, 2024, call about a toddler who was not breathing and ending in March 2026 when a judge sent him to prison for 10 to 25 years for killing his niece, Fofogafeta Maluia Fields.
That timeline matters because the public record changed as the case moved from a fast-moving death investigation to a plea-based court outcome. Early police accounts focused on the scene and arrest. Later court action fixed the charge as second-degree murder, avoided a trial and established the punishment that now governs how long Tevaseu must remain in prison before he can seek parole.
At the start, police and medics were dealing with a child in crisis. Officers were sent to the 3400 block of Mercury Street at about 11 a.m. after a report of a 31-month-old girl not breathing. The child was found without a pulse and taken to University Medical Center. She later died there. Detectives then shifted the case from a medical emergency to a homicide investigation and identified the girl’s uncle, Tevaseu, as the suspect. He was 21 at the time of the arrest and was booked on open murder and child abuse allegations, according to early reporting on the case.
The middle of the timeline was defined by what Tevaseu told investigators. Police records described several explanations before the account settled on an admission. He first said the girl suddenly collapsed while he was watching his sister’s children during her trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Another version suggested the child was sick, swaying and fell. A later version included slapping the child and hitting her with a pillow. Detectives said those stories did not fully explain the girl’s condition. In the statement that anchored the prosecution, Tevaseu said the toddler would not stop crying, so he held her like a baby and covered her mouth with his hand for about 30 seconds until she was “huffing and puffing.”
The next major turn came months later in court. In January 2026, Tevaseu pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the killing of Fofogafeta Maluia Fields, who was 2 when she died. The plea narrowed the case from the broader accusations listed at arrest and set the framework for punishment. The agreement called for a sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison. That meant the central question at the end of the case was no longer guilt or innocence before a jury, but whether the court would accept the negotiated deal and impose the agreed term.
That final stage arrived in late March 2026 in Clark County court. Judge Tierra Jones accepted the plea arrangement and imposed the prison term. Published court coverage said the sentence carried parole eligibility after 10 years. By then, the public account of the child’s death had become a fixed chain of events: a babysitting arrangement, a toddler who was crying, a series of statements to detectives, and a guilty plea that spared the child’s relatives and investigators from a full trial. The mother’s statement to police added one more lasting detail. She said her brother was her main child care help while she worked nights and that he sometimes got frustrated with the girls.
Seen as a timeline, the case tracks how a criminal file hardens over time. A morning emergency call became an arrest within hours. Interview records shaped the investigation. A plea in January 2026 settled the charge. A sentence in March closed the courtroom phase. What remains now is the correctional phase, with the length of Tevaseu’s confinement governed by the 10- to 25-year term and the parole rules attached to it.
Author note: Last updated April 20, 2026.