Left inset: Hester Johnson. Right inset: Devion Teague in court. Background: Hester Johnson's older sister, Iredell Washington, who held her during her final moments after Devion Teague allegedly shot the 75-year-old (KLAS/YouTube).
A 78-year-old Nevada woman on a morning walk with her sister says she watched the 75-year-old sibling get gunned down by a mugger and then cradled her as she died — crying out, "Don't leave me here all by myself!"
"Don't leave me, don't leave me here," Iredell Washington recalled telling her sister, Hester Johnson, as she was bleeding out in her arms, according to Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS.
"I just screamed," Washington told the outlet. "I just told her … 'Don't leave me here all by myself.'"
The mugger, Devion Teague, 24, attacked the "elderly women" on May 12 during their routine morning walk near South El Capitan Way and West Flamingo Road, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
"Teague approached them and demanded their belongings," an LVMPD press release says. "One victim hesitated and Teague shot her. The other victim handed over her belongings. Teague then fled the area in a vehicle."
Washington told KLAS that when Teague allegedly set upon them, he was "mumbling" through a mask. "I told the police he didn't say it loud enough," she recalled about the alleged demand for their belongings.
Washington said she and her sister "were like best friends" and would go on strolls together every day. "We would get up and go out and walk in the morning," she told KLAS. "We would talk about what we were going to do throughout the day."
Washington said Johnson was a volunteer and sign language interpreter who worked for Opportunity Village, a nonprofit organization that serves people in the Las Vegas area who have intellectual disabilities.
"She loved [Opportunity Village]," Washington told KLAS. "She learned how to do sign language there to help the people, and she just loved helping people."
Asked what Johnson would say to her about what happened, Washington said, "I know she would tell me, 'You gotta be strong because I'm not coming back.' And I know she's not. All the crying is not going to bring her back. But I just want justice for her."
Teague, who is facing conspiracy to commit grand larceny of a motor vehicle and grand larceny of a motor vehicle in a separate case, was later identified and located by police during the course of the shooting investigation, per LVMPD officials.
He is charged with one count of open murder with a deadly weapon and two counts of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon. His next court date is set for July 1.