Man gets life sentence for killing girlfriend, leaving body in desert

A 41-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for killing the mother of his young daughter and burning her body near the Seven Magic Mountains art installation four years ago.

Natelie Carbajal, 29, gave birth to her daughter only a few months before she was fatally shot. Her burnt body was unrecognizable when it was found on July 4, 2019, about a mile east of the art installation, in a pile of destroyed paperwork and pieces of metal, according to court records.

After her body was found, the Metropolitan Police Department received an anonymous tip that Carbajal’s boyfriend, Carlos Figueroa, had shot her in the head before “dumping her in the desert,” according to Figueroa’s arrest report.

The Clark County coroner’s office determined Carbajal died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Cassandra Carbajal Kumar, one of Natelie Carbajal’s sisters, told the judge that the last time she saw her sister, she disclosed that she was being abused in her relationship. She wasn’t seen again after she went home with her boyfriend that night, according to court records.

Natelie Carbajal’s sister said that she has dreams where her sister gets help before she she’s killed.

“I woke up scared, with a pit of grief so deep in my heart, I didn’t think it could ever be filled,” Cassandra Carbajal Kumar said during the sentencing hearing.

Police arrested Figueroa on a federal probation violation on July 10, 2019. He pleaded guilty in June to a first-degree count of murder with a deadly weapon, court records show.

District Judge Jacqueline Bluth sentenced him Tuesday to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in 25 years. Figueroa did not make a statement during the hearing, and did not react when the judge read the sentence.

According to court records, police searched Figueroa’s apartment in July 2019 and found a stack of drawers from a missing dresser, which matched the pieces of metal found with Carbajal’s body. Figueroa initially denied being involved with Carbajal’s killing, although he did admit to arguing with her about their child hours before her body was found.

Police also spoke with Figueroa’s brother, who said that Figueroa discussed killing Carbajal during a phone call from jail.

Figueroa has previously faced a murder charge after he was arrested in 2015 in connection with the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Jose Martinez, court records show. He pleaded guilty to a lesser felony of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to between one and four years in prison in July 2015, court records show.

The courtroom on Tuesday was full of about a dozen of Carbajal’s family members wearing shirts printed with her picture and the words “#Justice4Natelie.” Her family described her as a charismatic and loving woman who had an “infectious laugh.”

Cassandra Carbajal Kumar told the judge on Tuesday that she would miss dancing with her sister, planning road trips together and watching her interact with her niece and nephew.

Following the hearing, Carbajal Kumar said she wanted other domestic violence victims to realize that abuse can “escalate at any moment.”

“We just want to make sure people reach out to their friends and look out for them,” she said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.