Stabbed suspect will remain in jail without bail
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The man accused of stabbing eight people on the Las Vegas Strip, killing two, had a group of showgirls take a photo with a one-foot kitchen knife he was trying to sell before stabbing them, documents the 8 News Now investigators obtained on Friday.
Yoni Barrios, 32, appeared in court on Friday afternoon. He was ordered to remain in custody without bond until his next court appearance, scheduled for Tuesday, October 11.
Barrios had arrived from Las Vegas from California earlier this week, police said. He arrived on the Las Vegas Strip by bus around 8 a.m. Thursday. He told police he went there after learning he could not stay at a friend’s house, police said.
Barrios told police he was trying to sell his knives so he could get home, according to the arrest report.
The coroner’s office has identified Brent Allan Hallett, 47, and Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, both of Las Vegas, as the two people who died in the attack. Six others were injured.
According to the arrest report, Barrios went to the Wynn Casino to inquire about job opportunities as a janitor. He told police he even asked the janitor to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, so he could return to Guatemala.
Barrios then left the Wynn and approached a group of showgirls near the casino’s main entrance on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Barrios told the group of showgirls that he was the leader. One of the showgirls told police that Barrios asked to take a picture with the group with his knife. He thought the women were laughing at him and making fun of his clothes and he said it made him angry and he “stabbed one of the women in the chest”, according to the report.
Digiovanni, who was part of the band, died in hospital. Another woman in the group, who tried to help Digiovanni, was stabbed in the back. The stabbings were reported to police by multiple 911 callers beginning at 11:42 a.m.
After the stabbings involving the group, Barrios fled, stabbing six other people, including Hallett, as he ran along the sidewalk from Las Vegas Boulevard to Sands Avenue where he threw the bloody knife into some bushes, police said.
After being taken into custody, Barrios told police he “hoped the officers would shoot him,” according to the arrest report.
Barrios was incarcerated in the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, police said.
Barrios appeared in court on Friday afternoon. He was ordered to remain in custody without bond until his next court appearance, scheduled for October 11.