A Guatemalan man, suspected of being in the country illegally, was formally charged Tuesday in last week’s fatal stabbing spree on the Las Vegas Strip.
Yoni Barrios, 32, was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder for his deadly rampage on the Las Vegas Strip last Thursday.
Prosecutors say he stabbed five women posing as showgirls — along with a group of tourists — with a 12-inch knife outside the Wynn Las Vegas.
He claimed he wanted to ‘let the anger out’ after he thought people were laughing at him for wanting to take a picture with the showgirls, according to a police report.
Las Vegas showgirl Maris DiGiovanni, 30, and Brent Hallett, 47, died in the rampage, and four other Las Vegas showgirls and two tourists were injured.
Barrios is now being held without bail, as the Public Defender’s Office evaluates whether he is competent enough to stand trial.
‘To be honest, the question about competency, I’m not sure he could answer those questions,’ Deputy Public Defender Scott Coffee said at the arraignment, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
He said Barrios will now be interviewed by psychologists, and Coffee hopes to have a determination about Barrios’ ability to stand trial before a preliminary hearing on January 12.
In the meantime, though, prosecutors have 30 to 60 days to determine whether to seek the death penalty, according to KNTV.
Yoni Barrios, 32, was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder for his deadly rampage on the Las Vegas Strip last Thursday
He is now being held without bail as lawyers work to determine whether he is competent to serve trial
Prosecutors say he stabbed four women posing as showgirls — along with a group of tourists — with a 12-inch knife outside the Wynn Las Vegas
He is being represented by the Public Defenders Office, led by Scott Coffee, left, and Jeff Maningo, right
Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, (pictured) was stabbed to death in the broad daylight attack, which also claimed the life of Brent Allan Hallett, 47
Authorities say Barrios’ rampage began at around 11.40am local time when the showgirls were said to have been greeting tourists outside the Wynn.
The suspect had reportedly told the girls he was a chef, wearing a chef’s long-sleeved white jacket and carrying the knife.
He allegedly told the showgirls he wanted to take a picture with them, and when they refused he started stabbing.
Several of the victims then started running away from the scene, KNTV reports, when he knifed them before leaving
A total of eight people were stabbed in the rampage, according to Captain Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, before Barrios fled down Las Vegas Boulevard, headed towards Sands Boulevard.
He was held by Sands security guard until the police arrived, and was arrested ‘very quickly,’ Koren said.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents later told FOX News Barrios is in the United States illegally.
Court documents exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com also revealed that he was charged in 2019 with criminal domestic violence by Los Angeles district attorney Jackie Lacey, who has since left office.
A criminal docket for Barrios obtained by DailyMail.com shows he was charged in July 2019 with criminally injuring a spouse, cohabitant or fellow parent in an act of domestic violence.
If charged as a felony, perpetrators can be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
Barrios’ docket says the alleged incident occurred on August 18, 2018.
Lacey filed the case a year later, but the first pre-trial hearing was left until more than two years later on April 8 2021.
Barrios is suspected of being in the United States illegally, and has a prior criminal record in California. He is pictured here in his mugshot
The court documents say Barrios pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial, but was dismissed the same day by the judge because it had languished in the court system for too long.
The docket at LA Superior Court cites California Penal Codes 1381, 1381.5 and 1382 for the case’s dismissal.
According to these codes California Penal Code, prosecutors must bring a case to trial within 60 days of filing an indictment for a felony.
‘The court, unless good cause to the contrary is shown, shall order the action to be dismissed in the following cases… In a felony case, when a defendant is not brought to trial within 60 days of the defendant’s arraignment,’ PC 1382 says.
If Barrios had been put on trial promptly after the case was filed in July 2019 and convicted, he could have faced up to four years in prison, and would not have been free to commit the alleged two murders and six attempted murders with which he was charged this week.
Despite the docket information, a Los Angeles DA union executive denied Lacey’s office ‘fail[ed] to bring him to trial’.
Eric Siddall, Vice President of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys, told DailyMail.com: ‘If the case was thrown out by the judge, it was probably because of witness issues’.
Horrific photos and video from the scene of the October 6 stabbing show a showgirl being led into an ambulance
Authorities say the attack occurred in broad daylight at 11.40am local time when the showgirls were said to have been greeting tourists outside the Wynn Casino
Following the stabbing, he fled south towards Sands Boulevard
And just two days before the tragic incident, Barrios was apparently caught on camera by a television news station in Los Angeles, asking for the cameraman’s help.
‘He kept telling me: “I just want a chance, I just want to start from scratch,’” Telemundo 52 cameraman Jorge Lopez told his station following the fatal stabbing.
Lopez was on assignment in downtown Los Angeles outside city hall last Tuesday, when he was approached by a man who identified himself as Yoni Barrios.
Speaking Spanish, Barrios asked Lopez for help, claiming he just lost his home and all of his belongings.
Barrios later told Las Vegas Metropolitan Police he went to the city to move in with a friend, who ultimately refused to let him stay at the house.
He then packed his bag, and took a bus to the strip where the rampage occurred.
The suspect also told detectives he was from Guatemala and wanted ICE to take him home, according to a report released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
Just two days before the fatal stabbing, he was caught on camera by a television news station in Los Angeles, asking for the cameraman’s help
Horrific videos and photos from the scene showed what appeared to be one of the showgirls in a pool of blood outside the resort.
Medics were seen desperately working on her in front of horrified onlookers while other images showed a woman being whisked away on a stretcher.
At least one of the victims was transported to University Medical Center, where loved ones were seen going in in tears.
Speaking to the media in the immediate aftermath, Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief James LaRochelle said: ‘As you can imagine we have scores of witnesses to continue to get statements from and we have a number of video surveillance we have to get through in the immediate future.’
He described a short video showing the suspect stabbing the showgirls before heading south and stabbing an additional victim.
He was pursued by witnesses prior to his arrest.
Cops then swooped on the Venetian resort, and arrested Barrios with blood coated all over his sleeves.
Medics were seen desperately working on her in front of horrified onlookers while other images showed a woman being whisked away on a stretcher.
At least one of the victims was transported to University Medical Center, where loved ones were seen going in in tears.
LaRochelle said in the press conference: ‘We wanted to extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the victims themselves.’
He added: ‘This is clearly a very tragic and hard to understand, hard to comprehend murder investigation that deeply impacts our community.’
Cole Jordan, 29, the husband of Maris DiGiovanni gathered for a vigil following her death
He held back tears near a photo montage and burning candles of his late wife
The two had traveled the world together, before moving to Las Vegas two years ago
For Carmelita Hallett, Brent’s wife, the tragedy had come after 28 years together as they were starting to enjoy their retirement together.
The couple from Alberta, Canada, had decided to take their retirement early at the height of the COVID pandemic 18 months ago, Global News reports, with a trip around the world.
Their last stop would be in Vegas — where they were married in 1999, and where they wanted the most time.
They were set to return to Alberta in just 15 days when Brent was stabbed on October 6 as he walked down the Vegas Strip.
‘He just turned to me and said, “I don’t think I’m going to make it,” Carmelita recounted of the moments after the fatal stabbing.
Brent was described as a funny man by Carmelita’s aunt, Andrea Benoit.
‘He’d make you laugh over the silliest thing,’ she said. ‘Brent was a great soul and a great spirit.
‘He brought laughter and fun times to a lot of people.’
Brent had worked as a businessman who spent most of his time in Edmonton and the central Alberta regions.
Above all else, loved ones say, he loved his wife, his family and animals.
‘He loved all animals and love donkeys and rabbits, and just different kinds of animals.’
His fqamily is now starting an animal rescue charity in his name.
Until then, Hallett’s family said, anyone who wants to honor his memory could donate to the House Rabbit Society in his name.
DiGiovanni was one of the showgirls attacked outside the Wynn Casino last week
She is remembered as the ‘life of any gathering’ who ‘brightened every space she touched’
DiGiovanni, meanwhile, had grown up in Spokane, Washington, where she loved to sled and build snowmen in the winters and watch sunsets in the summer.
After graduating from Washington State University, the Reno Gazette Journal reports, she began traveling the world, making lifelong friendships throughout Europe and Asia.
She and her husband, Cole Jordan, 29, eventually settled in Hong Kong for a while before moving to Las Vegas two years ago.
It was an ‘obvious next home base’ for Maris, her brother, Gage DiGiovanni told the Journal, because of her ‘passion for concerts and festivals.
‘Maris was always the life of any gathering,’ he said, adding: ‘She was a beautiful spirit and soul, and we will miss her for the rest of our lives.’
Maris is survived by Gage, her husband Cole, as well as a younger brother, her parents and a sister-in-law.
Cheryl Lowthorp, 52, who owns Best Showgirls in Vegas, also paid tribute to her murdered employee and described her as ‘courageous and kind’.
She also urged acceptance of outsiders such as Barrios, telling the crowd: ‘When people don’t feel accepted for who and what they are, this is what happens.’
Lowthorp has also set up a GoFundMe to cover Maris’ funeral costs and pay for the other girl’s medical care. At the time of writing, the page has raised more than $36,000.
She wrote on the fundraiser page: ‘Our showgirl family has been wounded beyond reason, the beautiful soul of Maris Digiovanni has been stolen.
‘Three other of our girls wounded and hospitalized, but thankfully their lives [are] spared.’
A second GoFundMe has been set up by close friend Ariel Bongard who was sharing her Las Vegas home with Maris and Cole at the time of her death.
It described her as a ‘light in the world, brightening every space she touched.
‘Her light will live on and we will always remember her, always.’