Man arrested in connection with 2016 attack that left woman dead

A man was arrested Monday in connection with a homicide that occurred more than a year ago, records show.

Alexander Duwarte, 33, is being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail and faces an open murder charge in connection with the death of 67-year-old Christine Ralston, a police report and jail records show.

Police responded on June 19, 2016, at the front office of The Suites, 4855 Boulder Highway, to reports of a woman who was attacked, according to police records.

Ralston said she was out walking her dog when a man came up behind her and punched her in the face, according to the report. She was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Ralston’s husband told police she had encountered the man before, but she was inside for those encounters, according to the report.

The man who attacked Ralston banged on the door looking for sex, her husband told police. He also said she hit the man with a bat and called police after her second encounter with him.

Detectives tried to interview her on several occasions after that, according to the report, but she was unconscious at the hospital. Her husband told police on July 10, 2016, that her condition was worsening and that doctors thought she may not survive.

Ralston died of complications from the assault on July 14, the Clark County coroner’s office said. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Through interviews and checking trespass files, investigators identified Duwarte as a suspect.

Police interviewed Duwarte twice after he was arrested for unrelated crimes, the report said. He denied involvement in the killing, according to the report.

In April, police pulled phone records for Duwarte, which placed him in the area at the same time as the attack.

Two other men told police Duwarte told them he beat a woman and that she later died at a hospital.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.