Robert Anthony Lara (LVMPD)
A 29-year-old man in Nevada was arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend inside of their home, stabbing her to death in front of her four young children as she was allegedly packing a bag and preparing to leave him. Robert Anthony Lara was taken into custody on Sunday and charged with one count of open murder in the brutal slaying of Hunter Reyes-Weiland, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a press release from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, officers at about 12:31 p.m. on Sunday, June 18 responded to an emergency call regarding a possible stabbing at an apartment complex located in the 2900 block of East Charleston Boulevard. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders say they located an adult female — later identified as Reyes-Weiland — suffering from several apparent stab wounds. Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the scene where they pronounced the woman dead.
LVMPD’s Homicide Unit took over the investigation and say they identified Lara as the suspect in the case, saying that he and Reyes-Weiland were in a “dating relationship.”
According to an arrest report obtained by Las Vegas NBC affiliate KSNV, the children in the apartment at the time of the stabbing were ages 8, 7, and 5 years old, all of whom are believed to be Lara and Reyes-Weiland’s, whose relationship was described as being “on and off” for years. There was also a 10-month-old baby in the apartment who was reportedly fathered by a different man Reyes-Weiland had been dating recently.
The father of the 10-month-old baby had died in a motorcycle accident earlier this month, KSNV reported.
When he was initially questioned by detectives, Lara reportedly claimed that Reyes-Weiland had intentionally stabbed herself to death because she was depressed about the sudden and unexpected death of the baby’s father. He allegedly said that he found her in the apartment with a knife and tried to take it away from her, but during the scuffle she suffered a fatal stab wound.
The eldest of the three children also gave investigators similar stories at first, police reportedly wrote. However, after the details in those stories continued to change, investigators say they discovered that the child had been coached to tell police fabricated accounts of what happened.
According to a report from Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, the 8-year-old told police that her mother “went outside and stabbed herself in the chest.” But police said that the victim suffered stab wounds to her leg, back, and left shoulder blade, not her chest.
“Detectives had a concern that (the girl) was not being forthcoming regarding the events and that she was possibly coached by someone prior to police arrival,” police wrote in the arrest report, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The 7-year-old reportedly recounted seeing Lara, her father, stab her mother with two different knives, once in the leg and once “really hard” in the back, per KLAS. The child further told police that her mother was holding the 10-month-old baby and the backpack at the time of the attack.
“At some point, Hunter packed a backpack with baby items to go to a ‘safe’ place,” police reportedly wrote during the interview with the 7-year-old. “That backpack would be located inside the crib with blood on it.” The baby was also reportedly covered in Reyes-Weiland’s blood when police arrived.
The 5-year-old child reportedly told detectives that “mommy died because daddy stabbed her,” adding that “daddy is mean,” KSNV reported.
When confronted with evidence that contradicted his original story, Lara allegedly broke down and confessed to killing Reyes-Weiland because she was trying to leave him, saying he “overreacted.”
“I was just so afraid to let her go,” he allegedly told police, per KSNV, adding, “because I’m so alone.”
Lara is being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bond and is scheduled to appear in court again on June 21.
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