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North Las Vegas murder suspect a UNLV graduate student

Giovanni Ruiz (North Las Vegas Police Department)
Giovanni Ruiz (North Las Vegas Police Department)
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By / Las Vegas Review-Journal
September 11, 2019 - 2:55 pm
 
Updated September 11, 2019 - 4:14 pm

The 21-year-old man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend last week is a graduate student at UNLV, the university confirmed.

Paula Davis, 19, also a UNLV student who was studying economics, was found dead in her van at a North Las Vegas park Friday night. On Tuesday, police arrested Giovanni Ruiz, whom they said previously dated Davis.

Ruiz graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the university in May. He is now a graduate student studying accounting, according to UNLV spokeswoman Cindy Brown.

Ruiz remained held at the Las Vegas Detention Center without bail on Wednesday, and his initial court appearance is set for Monday. He faces a charge of murder with a deadly weapon.

He does not appear to have a criminal history in Clark County, according to online court records.

Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.

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