The porch swing where Kyle Staheli used to sit swayed gently Thursday as a dusty wind twirled up Clinton Lane.

A red heart with the letter K had been spray painted on the street in front of his home near Nellis Air Force Base. Candle wax from a weekend vigil dotted the pavement.

Inside the one-story house, his mother mourned.

"It doesn't make sense to us," Deborah Hampton said, her eyes swollen from days of grieving. "He was a wonderful, happy boy. He was loved by everyone."

The door to Staheli's room is closed. No one is allowed inside. His belongings remain as he left them May 10, the day Las Vegas police said he was lured into the desert on the northeast end of the valley to buy some marijuana.

The day he was gunned down.

All on account of a silver Ford Mustang, police said.

"This was a heinous crime," said Lt. Lew Roberts, head of the homicide detail. "It was pretty brutal and pretty senseless."

Staheli, 18, described by his family as trusting and generous, drove Swuave Lopez, 17, and James Carter Jr., 16, in his Mustang to the desert near the 800 block of Los Feliz Street, just east of Hollywood Boulevard near Washington Avenue.

Police believe Staheli was expecting to buy some pot. Lopez had told Carter he needed Staheli's Mustang to do "a job," according to Carter's arrest report.

Staheli's mother told police her son had been worried that a meeting he had that night might end badly, according to the arrest report.

"Hampton said prior to Kyle leaving home he told her he had a big deal tonight and that it may go good, or it may go bad, but that he would be home on May 11 because he planned on being at work at Kentucky Fried Chicken," the arrest report said.

When they arrived in the desert, Lopez told Staheli to leave his ID in the car and ordered him into the trunk of the Mustang, the arrest report said.

Staheli refused, and Lopez shot him with a .45-caliber handgun.

Blood from the wound in Staheli's chest turned the green shirt he was wearing blue, Lopez would later brag to a witness, the police report said.

Lopez fired two more shots, and he and Carter left in Staheli's car, not knowing if he was dead, Carter told police.

Word of the killing spread as Lopez talked it up with neighborhood teens at a school bus stop, according to police.

On May 12, Lopez, Carter and a third person bought a gas can and some gas from a 7-Eleven and returned to torch Staheli's corpse. Lopez poured the gas, and Carter threw a lit match.

After leaving the desert the second time, they wrecked the Mustang at Charleston Boulevard and Christy Lane.

It is unclear whether Lopez ever did the "job" he said he needed the car for.

Bouncing from apartment to apartment, Carter and Lopez ended up Saturday morning at the Broadstone Sunrise Mountain apartments, on Stewart Avenue near Nellis Boulevard.

About 6:30 a.m. Saturday, a hiker found Staheli's body near Frenchman Mountain. Detectives caught up to Lopez and Carter about 8 a.m. and took the two into custody.

Lopez was found in possession of a .45-caliber handgun, police said. After he was handcuffed and placed in the front seat of a detective's car, Lopez maneuvered his bound hands under his feet and to the front of his body, then got out of the car and ran, police said.

The two veteran officers -- Detective Ken Hardy, 39, and Detective Shane Womack, 28 -- each fired a shot that struck Lopez in the back.

Lopez died from the wounds.

"I don't believe he knew what was going on until it took place," Staheli's mother said about her son. "It was a total shock. We don't know anyone who wanted to harm him. This is devastating."

Staheli was a gentle kid who loved music and singing around the house, hanging out with friends and playing video games, Hampton said.

"He was a normal kid," she said.

Hampton said Staheli had signed up to join the Army and was waiting hear back from the military.

"He wanted to serve his country and serve others," she said.

Staheli's family praised the efforts of the Metropolitan Police Department.

"We want to thank Metro for how quickly and how hard they worked on this case," said Staheli's 24-year-old brother, Corey.

Dozens of friends have stopped by to pay their respects, and several candlelight vigils have been held for the thin, 6-foot-tall teen, including one Saturday night when Eldorado High School students left their prom to grieve with Hampton for a time.

Although it is unclear how well Staheli and Lopez knew each other, they attended Eldorado High together from August to November 2003.

Staheli would go on to graduate in 2005.

But according to Clark County Board of Education officials, Lopez bounced from school to school during his time in the system.

Lopez ended up at Summit View Youth Correctional Center, described on its Web site as a 96-bed maximum-security residential facility "designed to segregate serious and violent juvenile offenders from lower level offenders, serving youth between the ages of 12-18."

Carter has been charged with murder with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder. He will face those charges and any penalties as an adult.

"At this point, we don't expect any other arrests," Roberts said.