Police say woman killed Las Vegas man, shot her mother
A 38-year-old woman is accused of killing a Las Vegas man and later shooting her own mother, police said.
Rosario Barajas told police that she shot Stephen Bartlett, 35, inside a warehouse in east Las Vegas because she feared he was part of a cartel trying to kill her, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department released Tuesday.
Hours later, investigators believe Barajas broke through a glass door in her mother’s North Las Vegas home and shot the woman. Barajas’ step-father pinned her down until police arrived and arrested her.
North Las Vegas police said Barajas would “ramble” during her statement, but believed her family was attempting to give her children away to the Mexican mafia.
She was booked on burglary, battery and attempted murder charges in North Las Vegas.
Bartlett’s body was discovered by a friend who told police he was living in an abandoned building in the 6600 block of East Lake Mead Boulevard. The woman told police she hadn’t spoken to Bartlett since Oct. 1.
She found Bartlett on Oct. 4 inside the warehouse laying in a pool of blood, she told police.
The Clark County coroner’s office ruled that Bartlett died from gunshot wounds to the torso.
Barajas was arrested two days after Bartlett’s body was found, according to jail records, but police said she did not agree to speak to authorities until Nov. 2. Details on how she was identified prior to her arrest were heavily redacted from the police report.
Barajas told police she went to visit Bartlett, but she became paranoid that Bartlett was going to bring someone from a Mexican cartel home with him to kill her. She told police that she hid in a loft above the entrance and shot Bartlett as he approached a ladder to the loft.
“Bartlett asked her why she shot him,” police wrote in the report. “She told Bartlett it was because he was going to kill her.”
Barajas faces a murder charge in Las Vegas Justice Court, but she was hospitalized Nov. 5 to determine if she is competent to stand trial.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
