NORTH LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Kira DeBarge Sullivan has spent years trying to reclaim her father’s former home from squatters.
She told FOX5 the unwanted guests have turned the property into a drug operation and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
Following one of the alleged squatters being arrested on January 21, Sullivan walked FOX5 through the home, showing the extent of the damage both inside and out.
“Those were my boxes. They had gone through and everything else,” Sullivan said. “I don’t understand how people could be so unsympathetic to someone else.”
Nearly a decade-long problem
The situation began nearly a decade ago when Sullivan’s father owned the home and rented his outside camper to a couple for $250. The tenants eventually stopped paying rent, Sullivan said.
“My father lived here for the last 20-plus years. He ended up getting caught with dementia, but that was due, unfortunately, to his drinking, a microvascular disease,” Sullivan said. “They started taking advantage, started bringing more and more people on the property.”
Sullivan claims the squatters took advantage of her father’s condition to run a drug operation, selling methamphetamine in the yard. Her father no longer lives in the home, but the squatters remain.
Repeated evictions fail
Sullivan and Johnnie Walters have been working to remove the squatters and repair the home. Walters said the eviction process has been lengthy and ineffective.
“It took us 10 months to get evictions that would hold up to get these people off the property, and we had to be here when they were served. That was September 7th,” Walters said. “By September 15th, there were people back in the house. September 22nd, back in the house. August 13th, back in the house.”
Walters provided FOX5 with several arrest and incident reports dating from August 2025, leading up to the January arrest. The charges addressed in these reports include trespassing, burglary, resisting arrest, and drug use and possession.
Despite the documentation, the squatters continue returning to the property. One person attempted to return while FOX5 was on scene.
Financial and emotional toll
Walters said he and Sullivan have invested more than $60,000 in debt for paying off the home and handling property damage.
He told FOX5 he has nothing but praise for the work law enforcement has done, but feels the justice system is failing them.
“They’re getting prosecuted. They’re going to jail, and they’re getting the charges put on them, but they’re not serving anything,” Walters said. “They’re not being held accountable. They’re coming down here messing with these good neighborhoods.”
Sullivan said the ongoing situation has taken an emotional toll as her family memories are being destroyed.
“Enough is enough in most cases, and over time, you just start losing the tears and just start getting irritated with it,” Sullivan said. “My memories are being taken. Over time, if it continues, I’m going to end up having to demolish the house and put a new one on it, and I didn’t want to have to do that because I do have memories in here.”
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