Roidan Durruthy-Mendoza (LVMPD), Marillorky Tamayo-Cruz, and the apartment complex where she was killed (KSNV screenshots)
A 38-year-old man in Nevada was arrested last week for allegedly gunning down his ex-wife just hours after the two appeared in court for a divorce-related hearing in which he apparently felt he lost to the victim.
Roidan Durruthy-Mendoza was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of open murder, two counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, and two counts of domestic battery with a deadly weapon in the slaying of Marillorky Tamayo-Cruz, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department at about 2:40 p.m. on Aug. 17 responded to a call about a shooting taking place at an apartment complex in the 3900 block of South Jones Boulevard near Flamingo Road in Las Vegas. The caller — later identified as the victim's daughter — told the dispatcher to "Hurry up," adding, "he's got a gun" while the dispatcher said multiple gunshots could be heard in the background.
"There was a lot of commotion and screaming and [the daughter] sounded as though she walked away from the phone," the affidavit states. "When [she] got back to the phone, she said her mother was dead."
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders found two additional victims who had suffered gunshot wounds in addition to Tamayo-Cruz, who was pronounced dead on the scene. The other two victims, one who suffered a gunshot wound to the elbow and the other a gunshot wound to the eye, were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The suspect was identified as Durruthy-Mendoza, described as "a Cuban male" who "wore all white and fled the scene in a white pickup truck," the affidavit said.
Investigators on the scene recovered 11 cartridge cases from the scene and noted that a security door and front door of the apartment had been "shot off." Tamayo-Cruz's body was found in the hallway between the bedroom and bathroom of the apartment. She had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the forehead. A 9mm handgun was found next to the body.
At about 3:10 p.m., cameras captured Durruthy-Mendoza parking his car in front of the LVMPD Records and Fingerprint Bureau and getting out wearing a shirt "covered in apparent blood." He went inside, requested to speak with an officer, then went back outside and sat down on a bench.
When police approached they noted his shirt was "saturated with apparent blood" as they asked Durruthy-Mendoza what had happened.
"I killed my wife," he allegedly responded. Durruthy-Mendoza also stated that his wife's daughter had stabbed him in the left shoulder.
In an interview with the daughter, she told police that she was with her mother shortly before the shooting. During that time, her mother told her she had won in court that day against Durruthy-Mendoza and would be getting "the house, the truck, and custody of the children."
A witness who was in the home during the shooting told police Durruthy-Mendoza shot and kicked down the bedroom door where his ex-wife was hiding and shot her in the head three times. He also said Durruthy-Mendoza said something to the effect of "I told yo not to joke around with me."
A 2-year-old child who Durruthy-Mendoza and Tamayo-Cruz shared custody of was also at the apartment during the shooting and was unharmed, according to the affidavit.
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