LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The man who killed two people and injured six more during a stabbing spree on the Las Vegas Strip will spend the rest of his life in prison, a judge ruled Tuesday.
On Oct. 6, 2022, Yoni Barrios, 35, asked a group of showgirls to take a photo with a foot-long kitchen knife he was trying to sell before stabbing them, police said after his arrest. Video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained shows Barrios then randomly stabbing several other people before security and police subdued him.
Brent Hallett, 47; and Maris DiGiovanni, 30, both of Las Vegas, died in the attack.
“I just want to say from the bottom of my heart that I’m sorry,” Barrios said before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones senteced him.
In January, Barrios took a plea deal where he agreed to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill to terrorism and murder charges. The agreement removed the possibility of the death penalty.
“I’ve been doing this for a really long time and this is one of the most tragic cases I’ve ever seen,” Jones said before sentencing Barrios per the terms of his plea agreement.
Barrios went to the Wynn casino before the stabbing spree to ask about job opportunities as a janitor, documents said. 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 told the group of showgirls he was a chef. One of the showgirls told the 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 clothing and he said it made him angry and he “stabbed one of the women in the chest,” the report stated.
After the stabbing involving the group, Barrios ran off, stabbing six others, including Hallett, as he ran along the sidewalk from Las Vegas Boulevard to Sands Avenue where he threw the bloody knife in some bushes, police said.
This story will be updated.
