2 murder counts, other charges filed against police standoff suspect
A Las Vegas man who police say caused a 29-hour standoff at a central Las Vegas motel in May has been arrested for two killings in the Las Vegas Valley earlier that month, according to police and court records.
Antionio BarryEdwards, 24, is being held on suspicion of first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in connection with the May 9 discovery of a woman’s body in a burning vehicle near Frenchman Mountain on Bureau of Land Management property. Jordan Angelina Monahan, 30, was also arrested Tuesday on the same charges in 39-year-old Sandra Cruz-Lopez’s shooting death, according to Clark County Detention Center records.
Police have not elaborated on why they believe BarryEdwards and Monahan, whose relationship was not immediately clear, are connected to the crime.
North Las Vegas police spokesman Alexander Cuevas also confirmed that BarryEdwards was booked at the North Las Vegas Detention Center on Tuesday on suspicion of murder, burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle in the May killing of Eric Mosley, 31. Mosley was found fatally shot inside a trailer in a parking lot on the 2900 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North, west of Pecos Road, on the same day that Cruz-Lopez’s body was found.
”It was a very lengthy investigation which connected him to it,” Cuevas said.
It was not immediately clear if authorities believe the two killings are related. Monahan has not been arrested or charged in the North Las Vegas homicide.
BarryEdwards made headlines in Las Vegas on May 26 when Las Vegas police said he caused a lengthy standoff at the Highland Inn Motel, 8025 Dean Martin Drive. Police said an officer investigating stolen vehicles came across BarryEdwards standing next to a stolen sport utility vehicle and a stolen motorcycle, police wrote in an arrest report for BarryEdwards.
When the officer attempted to arrest BarryEdwards, police said, the men struggled and a fight ensued.
“During the fight, Antionio reaches for the inside of his vest in (an) attempt to retrieve his firearm,” police said. “(The officer) continues to fight with Antionio over the firearm.”
Police said BarryEdwards then fled into a room of the motel and shut the door.
As officers surrounded the motel, police said, BarryEdwards used a saw to cut a hole through a wall in the room, police said. He then crawled through the hole into an adjacent motel room where a woman and a 4-year-old child were napping. Police said the woman and child fled into a bathroom, where they cowered in the bathtub as BarryEdwards talked with police negotiators over the phone.
Two hours after the standoff started, police said, the child was allowed to crawl through the hole in the wall to awaiting SWAT team officers. The woman was released some 21 hours later.
BarryEdwards fired five gunshots at SWAT officers about an hour after the woman was released, police said. He was ultimately arrested at the scene of the standoff and charged with 14 felonies.
Jail records show Monahan was booked under a police event number assigned to the killing of Cruz-Lopez. Cruz-Lopez’s body was found the morning of May 9 in a scorched vehicle on Bureau of Land Management property near state Route 147, or Lake Mead Boulevard, police said at the time. The Clark County coroner’s office said Cruz-Lopez had been shot.
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Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
