Suspect on police radar two weeks before slayings

Two weeks before the brutal double slaying of a mother and daughter, a bench warrant was issued for Bryan Clay for not showing up to court in an unrelated domestic violence case.

During those two weeks, Las Vegas police actively searched for Clay, a police spokesman said. However, finding Clay, who did not have a home address, proved difficult.

On April 15, police believe Clay, high on drugs and drunk on alcohol, sexually assaulted a 50-year-old woman near Vegas and Tonopah drives and then went to a home in the 1000 block of Robin Street.

Inside the house, investigators say, Clay used a claw hammer to pummel Arturo Martinez, 39, and beat to death his wife, Ignacia "Yadira" Martinez, 38, and daughter, Karla Martinez, 10. Arturo Martinez remains hospitalized and is unable to communicate. The couple's two sons, ages 9 and 4, were not attacked.

Clay, 22, also is accused of sexually assaulting Karla.

On April 3, Las Vegas Justice Court records show, a bench warrant was issued for Clay after he failed to appear on a charge of felony child abuse and neglect in a Feb. 14 incident. He is accused of hitting 16-year-old Erin Frost in the face and head and dragging the teen, who is pregnant with his child, after an argument.

Frost, who spoke with the Review-Journal at her east valley home Tuesday evening, said her relationship with Clay started on the social media website Facebook. The two began dating in November.

She said the relationship started off well and she was infatuated with him.

"He was sweet, genuine," Frost said. "He was always nice and caring, and then he changed."

A month into their relationship, Clay choked her for about 30 seconds and knocked her out of a bed at his aunt's home, Frost said. He then grabbed some of her possessions, including her shoes, purse and earrings, and threw them out of the home. The fight occurred about 3 a.m.

About a month later, Clay punched her in the ribs at his mother's house. Frost fell to the ground and cried.

The first two attacks weren't reported to police, Frost said.

She said she should have been smarter and left him after the first assault. Clay even told her he wasn't going to change.

"He never said he wasn't going to hit me again," Frost said. "He said, 'I never know when I'm going to snap.' "

Frost, who wore a T-shirt, jeans and big hoop earrings, said her child with Clay is due in October.

She believes Clay is capable of the serious crimes of which he is accused.

"I don't put it past him," she said.

On April 16, a day after the slayings, Clay was issued a summons to appear May 14 in a March 15 incident in which he pulled Frost's hair, punched and kicked her, slammed her face into the ground and choked her. Frost was trying to break up with Clay at the time, according to a report of the incident.

Las Vegas police spokesman Marcus Martin said the practice for the department when a bench warrant is ordered is for the charging unit to search for the suspect. In Clay's case, detectives from the Crimes Against Youth and Family Bureau would have tried to find him, or they would have sought help from the department's criminal apprehension team, Martin said.

In different cases, patrol officers could be alerted to keep an eye open for certain suspects.

"The problem with Mr. Clay was he was listed as a transient," Martin said. He said that detectives could visit several known locations for a suspect, but that the person might not have been there in a while.

Martin said suspects who know they are wanted might try to duck police by staying at different locations and coming out only at certain times of the day.

It is unknown whether Clay knew there was a bench warrant out for his arrest on the child abuse and neglect case.

Last week, Clay's mother, Latasha White, told the Review-Journal that her son normally does not stay with her. She said he came home last Thursday before he was arrested in the slayings.

As first reported by the Review-Journal, Clay was arrested on the domestic violence case Friday while homicide detectives connected him to the slayings and the sexual assaults through DNA and other evidence. Clay told investigators he did not recall what happened April 15 because he was high on drugs and alcohol.

He is expected to appear in front of Justice of the Peace Joe Sciscento this morning on the murder and sexual assault charges stemming from the attacks on the 50-year-old woman and the Martinez family.

On Tuesday, Clay, wearing navy blue jail scrubs with his hands and legs shackled, was stoic as he was escorted by three court marshals to appear before Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa.

The judge asked whether Clay had read the complaint and understood the charges against him. He answered yes to both. Saragosa then asked whether had an attorney, and Clay responded, "No ma'am."

Saragosa appointed the public defender's office to represent Clay and set bail at a total of $50,000 in the domestic violence cases. The court appearance lasted less than two minutes before Clay was escorted from the courtroom. He faces two counts of domestic battery, robbery and child abuse and neglect in the two cases.

A preliminary hearing, at which a judge decides whether prosecutors have enough evidence to send the case to trial, was set for May 15. Clay remained at the Clark County Detention Center without bail on the murder charges.

Africa Releford, Frost's mother, said she never approved of her daughter's relationship with Clay because he was an adult and she was a minor.

She said a "guardian angel" must have been protecting her daughter because Clay had many opportunities to kill her.

Frost, a sophomore at Chaparral High School, said Clay threatened her life in an email sent last month. Although Clay told police he had used hard drugs, Frost said she has only known him to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol. She said that during their relationship, he often threatened suicide and was obviously depressed.

Still, Frost said, no excuses.

"You commit the crime, you got to do the time," she said. "He deserves everything coming to him."

Review-Journal writer Mike Blasky contributed to this report. Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.