Yoni Barrios Reportedly in US Illegally, Facing Murder Charges for Vegas Stabbings

Posted on: October 19, 2022, 09:56h. 

Last updated on: October 19, 2022, 10:27h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Yoni Barrios, the man accused of fatally stabbing two victims and injuring six others on the Las Vegas Strip earlier this month, is in the US illegally, according to several news reports.

Yoni Barrios, seated
Yoni Barrios, seated, appears in Las Vegas court. He is charged with several counts in connection with stabbings on the Las Vegas Strip. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Barrios, 32, was identified as a Guatemalan national who somehow snuck into the US, Fox News reported based on information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Following his apprehension, ICE issued an immigration detainer on Barrios, the Las Vegas-Review-Journal reported. He is currently being held without bail in Las Vegas for the stabbings. If he’s released, ICE would take custody of Barrios. Deportation proceedings would then take place and it would be up to a federal immigration judge on whether Barrios would be deported.

Barrios also has a criminal record with unknown charges in California, an ICE official told Fox News. He arrived in Las Vegas from California just a few days before the October 6 fatal stabbings, the Daily Mail reported.

For the multiple stabbings near the Wynn Las Vegas, Barrios is facing two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder. He was booked on October 6 and remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center.

Death Penalty Possible

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has yet to decide if prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the case, the Daily Mail said.

Barrios is next scheduled to appear in Las Vegas court for a preliminary hearing on January 12. Nevada public defender Scott Coffee said an evaluation also will take place as to whether Barrios is competent to stand trial.

The stabbings occurred after Barrios met four women on a pedestrian bridge along the Strip. They were posing as showgirls for a modeling firm, Best Showgirls In Las Vegas. He asked to take a photo with them featuring a foot-long kitchen knife.

Maris DiGiovanni Jordan, 30, who was one of the showgirl impersonators, was stabbed. She lost her life in the attack. He later claimed the women were making fun of him.

Also losing his life in the attack was Brent Allan Hallett, 47, a Canadian businessman who was randomly allegedly stabbed by Barrios.

Trump Calls Stabbings Heinous

On October 8, during a well-attended rally in Minden, Nev., former President Donald Trump called Barrios a “sadistic murderer” who went on a “heinous stabbing spree.”

The perpetrator was an illegal alien with a criminal record a mile long in California,” Trump added. “But the bloodthirsty killer was unknown to law enforcement because of California’s barbaric sanctuary city policies.”

In 2019, Barrios was charged with domestic violence, but the office of Los Angeles County former District Attorney Jackie Lacey failed to bring the case to court within the required 90 days. That led a California judge to dismiss the case, the Daily Mail said.

If Barrios had been convicted in that case, he might have been deported.

Online fundraisers are underway for several victims and their relatives following the stabbings on the Strip.