Body of woman found under suspect’s bed in North Las Vegas ID’d
The Clark County coroner identified the woman North Las Vegas police found dead under the bed of a man they shot and killed Monday night.
Ingrid Juarez, 32, was found dead when North Las Vegas police searched the home of Horacio Ruiz-Rodriguez, the man four officers fatally shot Monday.
Multiple sharp force injuries killed her, the coroner’s office said. Her death was ruled a homicide.
It is unclear if the woman knew or was related to Ruiz-Rodriguez.
Police responded to Ruiz-Rodriguez’s home late Monday after a second woman who escaped the home made her way to a North Las Vegas police station. There, she told police that Ruiz-Rodriguez had kidnapped and sexually assaulted her.
Police said that Ruiz-Rodriguez was “visibly agitated” when officers arrived at the 2109 Glider Street home, nestled within a residential neighborhood near North Fifth Street and East Lake Mead Boulevard.
He was sitting in a white sedan parked outside the house.
When officers asked to see his hands, Ruiz-Rodriguez didn’t comply, police said. At some point, he reportedly told police he had a gun. The officers opened fire when Ruiz-Rodriguez appeared to reach for his waistband.
He was not armed, police learned. He died at the scene, and a cellphone was found next to his body.
Had Ruiz-Rodriguez survived the shooting, he would have faced charges of murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and obstructing, police said. His criminal history includes soliciting for prostitution in 2007 and other minor offenses.
No officers were injured, and no body camera footage exists because the North Las Vegas Police Department has not equipped any of its officers with body cameras, a department spokesman said.
A state law required law enforcement agencies to outfit their officers with body cameras by July 1, 2018. The spokesman said the department is looking to have its officers outfitted with the cameras in the next few months. It’s unclear if there will be any consequences.
The officers who opened fire were Anthony Watkins, 47; Robert Knickerbocker, 45; Edwin Corales, 45; and Tanner McAninch, 26.
Watkins has been with the department for 24 years, Knickerbocker for 16 years, Corales for 12 years and McAninch for one year. They were placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
The police shooting Monday marked the first for North Las Vegas in 2019. Last year, the department saw two police shootings, one of which was fatal.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3801. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.
