Witness accounts placed a family dispute over Cuba at the center of the homicide investigation, police say.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Two neighbors helped police trace the hours before and after a woman was found dead in a central Las Vegas home, where her husband is accused of killing her during a dispute over their daughter’s future.
The neighbors’ statements turned a brief 911 call into a broader timeline in the death of Vanesa Rodrigues-Valdes. Police say Roelmer Sanchez-Garrido, 38, called for help shortly after 3 a.m. April 28, then was found outside the Esmeralda Avenue home with the couple’s 2-year-old daughter. Inside, paramedics found Rodrigues-Valdes on the floor under a blanket. They saw bruises on her face and neck, and the response shifted from a medical emergency to a homicide case.
One neighbor told investigators the couple had been fighting about whether Rodrigues-Valdes would return to Cuba with the child. According to police, the neighbor said Rodrigues-Valdes wanted to raise the girl there, while Sanchez-Garrido wanted to remain in the United States and make more money for the family. Earlier the same day, the neighbor said, Rodrigues-Valdes asked for help hiding the family’s passports so Sanchez-Garrido could not reach them. That detail became part of the police account because it showed the argument had moved beyond words and into preparations over travel, custody and control of family documents.
A second neighbor described a different encounter closer to the time of death. He told police he woke around 2 a.m. to the sound of banging on his window. When he checked, he saw Sanchez-Garrido outside a security gate. The neighbor did not open it, but the two men spoke. Sanchez-Garrido handed over two containers filled with jewelry and phone numbers for two relatives, police said. The neighbor told investigators Sanchez-Garrido said he had done something “very bad” and wanted him to call 911. The neighbor also gave police access to exterior video, which he said showed Sanchez-Garrido at the house on two separate occasions early that morning.
The 911 call came later, with Sanchez-Garrido telling dispatchers his wife was injured and then saying she was not breathing. Las Vegas Fire and Rescue paramedics arrived and found him pacing in the yard with the toddler. They entered the home and found Rodrigues-Valdes covered by a blanket. After the blanket was removed, paramedics saw early signs of rigor mortis, along with the bruising that led them to call police. Rodrigues-Valdes was pronounced dead at 3:17 a.m. An officer who arrived after paramedics also found the death suspicious because of the marks on her neck.
Police said Sanchez-Garrido spoke at the scene and later during a custodial interview at Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters. He told officers he and Rodrigues-Valdes had argued about her taking their daughter back to Cuba. Detectives said he described becoming upset after she said she was leaving while their child slept. He allegedly said he grabbed Rodrigues-Valdes by the throat and squeezed, then did not remember what happened next. Police said he later saw that she had stopped breathing and had fallen to the ground. He told investigators he tried CPR but was not successful.
Investigators also noted what Sanchez-Garrido said he did after the attack. He told police he took a blanket from the couch and covered Rodrigues-Valdes so the couple’s daughter would not see her mother’s body. That statement matched what paramedics later found when they entered the home. The toddler’s presence outside with Sanchez-Garrido became one of the stark details in the case, but police have released little about the child beyond her age and her connection to the family dispute. Officials did not publicly describe any physical injuries to the child.
Another statement from the neighbor suggested the relationship had been under strain for at least a week. Police said Rodrigues-Valdes had secretly recorded Sanchez-Garrido during an April 21 argument and said she wanted to end the relationship. Authorities have not released the recording publicly, and police have not said whether it contains threats, admissions or other evidence. Still, the detail added context for detectives as they examined whether the death followed a sudden fight, a pattern of conflict or both. The Clark County coroner’s office was expected to make the formal determination on cause and manner of death.
Sanchez-Garrido was arrested at the scene and booked on one count of open murder. During an initial court appearance, a judge found probable cause and ordered him held without bail. Local Spanish-language coverage reported that he used an interpreter in court. The open murder charge gives prosecutors room to argue the degree of homicide later, depending on evidence from the autopsy, witness statements, video, recordings and the defendant’s own words. A later hearing was scheduled for May 4, according to court information reported by local outlets.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department described the case as a domestic dispute that became deadly. Lt. Robert Price said the preliminary investigation showed the couple had argued before the confrontation became physical. Police did not release a detailed public account of how long the struggle lasted, whether anyone else was inside the home or what happened between the neighbor’s 2 a.m. encounter and the 3 a.m. emergency call. Those gaps are likely to matter as prosecutors and defense attorneys review the charge.
By May 22, the public case rested on four main pieces: the 911 call, the condition of Rodrigues-Valdes’ body, the neighbors’ accounts and Sanchez-Garrido’s alleged statements to police. Further court proceedings in Clark County will determine how the open murder charge moves forward and which evidence becomes part of the formal record.
Author note: Last updated May 22, 2026.