Co-workers of woman killed in apparent murder-suicide ‘never knew it would come to this’

The couple who died after an apparent murder-suicide Monday afternoon in a southeast valley apartment complex leaves behind four children and one grandchild, a co-worker of the woman killed said.

The woman, Natalia Cruz, 45, of Las Vegas, worked at the McDonald’s at 2886 S. Nellis Blvd., a block away from Sunridge Apartment Homes at 4855 Vegas Valley Drive, where officers responded just before 5 p.m. Monday to reports of two people stabbed.

“We were just exchanging pictures of our grandkids Sunday,” the co-worker said Tuesday. “We talked about her today at work and just cried.”

Police said the couple — Cruz and the man who died, Trinidad Gonzalez-Flores, 49, also of Las Vegas — had a history of unreported domestic violence. She tried to leave him Monday afternoon and Gonzalez-Flores exploded, stabbing her five or six times before turning the knife on himself, Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Dan McGrath said.

The murder-suicide unfolded in front of a few family members, including the couple’s 6-year-old child.

“She was so well loved; she was always so happy and cheerful,” the co-worker said of Cruz. “We knew they had problems, but we never knew it would come to this.”

The restaurant created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the children the couple leaves behind, including a daughter who also works at the McDonald’s, the co-worker said. As of 5:30 p.m., the page had raised more than $1,300.

Cruz’s death was the 69th homicide Metro has investigated this year. Gonzalez-Flores’ death is being investigated as a suicide.

Las Vegas Review-Journal writer Raven Jackson contributed to this report. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find @rachelacrosby on Twitter.