Mugshots of Antonio Barry-Edwards and Jordan Monahan
A Nevada man accused of drilling a hole through the wall of a motel in order to take a child and his babysitter hostage last year now has been charged with two murders.
Antonio Barry-Edwards, 24, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping on May 27 outside of the Highland Inn Motel in Sin City after a standoff in which he was able to elude police for over a day, according to local CBS affiliate KLAS.
He now stands accused of more than three dozen different crimes related to his alleged May crime spree.
At the time, police accused the defendant of firing seven shots, cutting a hole between two adjacent rooms with a saw, and taking the woman and young boy hostage. The incident occurred after a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer allegedly spotted a stolen vehicle in the parking lot. Barry-Edwards allegedly tried to flee on a motorcycle when asked about the SUV in question, prompting the officer to engage him physically. An altercation ensued.
Police accused the defendant of reaching for a gun inside his vest, so the officer wrote in his report that he “kicked Antonio two times in the head, which caused Antonio to become startled and lose his balance.” Barry-Edwards then allegedly ran into Room 113, barricaded himself and eventually made his way into Room 114 where the boy was being watched while his parents were out running errands.
Then came the standoff. Eventually, after several hours, the defendant allowed the 4-year-old boy to leave through the hole in the wall. The babysitter was in the hotel room overnight and allowed to leave the next morning. In all, the standoff occurred over the course of 29 hours.
Barry-Edwards was already in jail for the kidnapping-related charges when he was accused of two different, and seemingly unrelated, murders that authorities believe occurred on May 9.
According to the LVMPD, 39-year-old Sandra Cruz-Lopez was discovered dead inside of a burned out car. Additionally, 31-year-old Eric Mosley was found shot to death in a trailer in a parking lot. While authorities are not sure which incident occurred first, KLAS reports that the Mosley murder was reported roughly 30 minutes before the car fire that likely killed Cruz-Lopez was called in to 911 dispatchers.
“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare,” Cruz-Lopez’s mother, Jacquelina Anzalone-Rien, told the TV station. “I want justice.”
An alleged accomplice, 30-year-old Jordan Monahan, is also charged in the Cruz-Lopez murder case. She was arrested Tuesday and is also being charged with conspiracy and arson, among other crimes.
“That’s not going to bring my daughter back,” the victim’s mother continued. “That’s not going to bring her back to her kids. I want them held accountable for everything that they’ve done.”
The deceased woman’s aunt said the charges offered some respite from the family’s pain.
“I was devastated,” Rosan Anzalone told KLAS. “That gives us some relief. We’ve been in a nightmare since May.”
The grieving mother was adamant that she wanted her daughter remembered as more than a victim of a brutal crime.
“I want everyone to know that she had family,” Anzalone-Rien added. “She wasn’t just a nobody out there in Las Vegas. She had a good heart. She was a good person.”
[images via Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department]
