‘Complex scene’ confronts police in double-slaying

Investigators are working around the clock to identify who killed a mother and daughter in their central valley home, a high-ranking Las Vegas police official said Tuesday.

Assistant Sheriff Ray Flynn called the case a "high priority."

Crime scene analysis at the home at 1016 Robin St., where the bodies of 10-year-old Karla Martinez and her 38-year-old mother, Ignacia Martinez, were found Monday, will take about three days.

"This is a very complex scene," Flynn said. "There is a tremendous amount of physical evidence. ... There is a strong possibility that this case might be solved by physical evidence."

Flynn said investigators did not have a suspect as of late Tuesday afternoon.

"We're looking at all possibilities and all motives," he said.

The Martinez family lived at a home near Washington Avenue and Tonopah Drive.

The Clark County coroner's office identified the mother and daughter Tuesday. The office has not issued causes of death in the case.

Las Vegas police learned of the slayings after a 9-year-old boy walked to Hoggard Elementary School about 8:40 a.m. Monday and told school officials his mother and sister were dead inside his home.

Police said a man covered in blood also was found at the house. He was hospitalized, but police would not say how the man was connected to the victims.

A 4-year-old boy was also found in the home, police said.

Christine Skorupski, a spokeswoman for the Clark County Department of Family Services, said the two boys have been taken into custody by her agency. The relationships between the boys and the victims have not been detailed by police.

Flynn said police have been tight-lipped because they do not want to jeopardize the investigation.

He voiced his condolences to the Martinez family on behalf of the department.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with them," Flynn said.

Some neighbors at the scene Monday heard commotion before police were called.

A neighbor, Lucinda Jackson-Griffin, told reporters the adult man who lived at the home is named Arturo, a friendly husband and father with a steady job as an electrician.

According to county records, Arturo Martinez is listed as the homeowner.

Jackson-Griffin said there had been no disturbances at the Martinez house until Monday morning, when she heard gunshots.

When police arrived, they "snatched" the 4-year-old boy and told her a homicide had occurred.

Police have not released how Karla and her mother were killed.

Juliana Maqueda-Perez, a neighbor who spoke only Spanish, said she heard a man screaming in English and a child crying in the early morning hours.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.