A Nevada man who has been accused of drilling his way through a motel wall to hold an adult and child hostage earlier this year has been charged with two murders this week.
Investigators said they believe that weeks before Antonio Barry-Edwards, 24, kidnapped a child and her babysitter at the Highland Inn Motel in Las Vegas on May 29, he killed two people in separate incidents, local outlet KVVU reported.
The first alleged killing occurred on May 9 when 31-year-old Eric Mosley was shot to death in a trailer in the middle of the night.
Witnesses have claimed to have seen Barry-Edwards and the victim arguing before several gunshots rang out.
Just 30 minutes after Mosley was killed, police were notified of a dead body inside a burned-out car just east of Las Vegas.
The victim has been identified as 39-year-old Sandra Marie Cruz-Lopez; she had been shot multiple times. Mosley and Cruz-Lopez reportedly lived together.
“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare,” Jacquelina Anzalone-Rien, Cruz-Lopez’s mother, told KLAS-TV.
Anzalone-Rien said she wants justice for her daughter’s killing, which she described as “vicious.”
“I want everyone to know that she had family,” she said. “She wasn’t just a nobody out there in Las Vegas. She had a good heart. She was a good person.”
Both Barry-Edwards and an alleged accomplice, Jordan Monahan, 30, have been classified as suspects in the slayings, according to KVVU.
Both she and Barry-Edwards were booked on charges of open murder on Tuesday. Her relationship with Barry-Edwards is unclear.
An inmate told authorities in June that the murders were the result of a love triangle, police said; later, the same inmate allegedly said the slayings were the result of Mosley owing Barry-Edwards money.
As the charges were filed against him, Barry-Edwards was already in custody.
He was arrested on unrelated charges in late May following what police said was a day-long standoff at the Las Vegas motel after he had allegedly drilled a hole between two motel units then held the 4-year-old and babysitter hostage.
He was sporting a bulletproof vest at the time, according to a KTNV report.
Barry-Edwards is due back in court on Monday. It’s not clear if he or Monahan has a lawyer to speak on their behalf. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
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