Police: Woman’s dogs fatally shot during crime spree

Las Vegas police accused three people of conspiring to break into a woman’s east Las Vegas Valley home before killing her two dogs.

Fernando Avalos, 32, Barbara Henley, 27, and Juan Morales, 26, have each been charged with 17 felony counts including attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, burglary and animal cruelty.

Police said that Avalos and Morales broke into a woman’s home on the 1000 block of May Avenue, near Charleston Boulevard and Palm Street, around 10 p.m. Saturday.

According to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report, Avalos and Morales told the woman they wanted to “speak with her about respect” and stole her purse containing about $400.

The woman asked to talk with them outside, and they refused before kicking and punching her. Police noted that the woman’s left eye was purple and swollen.

During the attack they fired shots at the woman, which struck her in the foot, the report stated.

One of the men asked her which dog was her favorite. She did not respond and one of the men shot her two pit bull dogs that were in their cage, according to the report.

They fled the scene, police said, and later carjacked a man at gunpoint. Police arrested them after finding the stolen vehicle abandoned and on fire near Boulder Highway and Sandhill Road.

Henley told police she stayed in a vehicle and did not enter the home where the dogs were killed.

It was unclear in the report why the woman was targeted.

All three remained in custody. Avalos and Morales are being held without bail and Henley is being held on $50,000 bail, court records show.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com.