Woman kidnapped, killed by ex-boyfriend in murder-suicide ID’d

A woman who police said was killed by her ex-boyfriend after he kidnapped her at gunpoint at a Las Vegas shopping center was identified Tuesday.

Her killer, who then died by suicide, police said, was also named.

Rizza Abrera, 38, died at early Friday morning in a bedroom in her ex-boyfriend’s home in the southwest Las Vegas Valley, the Clark County coroner’s office said Tuesday.

Her cause of death hadn’t yet been determined by the coroner’s office.

The ex-boyfriend, Steven Robert Evans, 41, was also found in the bedroom. He died later that morning at University Medical Center, the coroner’s office said.

The Metropolitan Police Department said the woman was taken at gunpoint around 7:30 p.m. Thursday from a shopping center on the 9200 block of South Eastern Avenue.

Officers identified the kidnapper as her ex-boyfriend and went to his home on the 9600 block of Scrub Jay Court, near West Sunset Road and South Grand Canyon Drive, but he refused to come out.

Metro Homicide Det. Jason Johansson said at the scene that two women and the couple’s 3-year-old child also were also held hostage in the house.

Police said in a press release on Friday that SWAT officers entered the home “after a lengthy attempt to get the male to surrender” to find the woman later identified as Abrera dead and the man later identified as Evans suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Lifeline network at 988. Live chat is available at 988lifeline.org.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com