Las Vegas police have arrested a recently paroled woman in what officers believe to have been the random fatal shooting of a man in front of an apartment complex on Tuesday.
A news release from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) announced that 27-year-old Kayla Alery had been booked into Clark County Detention Center on murder charges after an investigation into a man’s death allegedly led to her. The incident occurred around 4 p.m. in the 3600 block of South Fort Apache Road.
The victim, 41-year-old Raul Cardoza, had been sitting in his white work van working on an estimate to clean a potential customer’s carpet when Alery allegedly shot him with no prior interaction, Lt. Jason Johannson said, according to Fox 5 Vegas. Cardoza was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment, where he died from his wounds.
Alery already had an extensive criminal background before her latest arrest, with arrests for domestic battery, coercion with force, DUI, burglary, grand larceny of a gun, ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and obstructing a public officer. In September 2022, she was convicted of arson in the third and fourth degree after trying to set fire to a car in a parking lot. She served the minimum sentence of 14 months and was paroled in December 2023.
She now faces several felony charges, including open murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and battery by a prisoner. One X user left a comment on LVMPD’s post suggesting that it was only a matter of time before she would be rereleased, posting “#CatchAndReleaseClarkCounty.”
Nationwide, there have been incidents revealing how soft-on-crime policies have led to violent offenders bonding out of jail or being released on parole only to continue committing crimes. Dallas had its own example in the form of Nestor Hernandez, who was on parole for aggravated robbery when he shot and killed two healthcare workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center on October 22, 2022.
Still, Dallas County prosecutors, led by District Attorney John Creuzot, and the local bail system continue to be accused of being overly lenient with offenders. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia have been notable opponents of soft-on-crime policies, as covered by The Dallas Express.
More recently, a New York City police officer, Jonathan Diller, was gunned down during a traffic stop in Queens. Guy Rivera, the 34-year-old suspect charged with Diller’s murder as well as the attempted murder of another officer, had been arrested over 20 times before the shooting, including for assault and robbery.
“It’s the same people over and over again,” New York Major Eric Adams said at a press conference, per ABC 7. “These are bad people who are doing bad things to good people. It’s the good guys against the bad guys, and we have to recognize that.”
A wake was held Thursday for Diller, who is survived by his wife and 1-year-old son, with a second scheduled for Friday. He will be laid to rest following a funeral service on Saturday morning.
