The sisters are with a guardian after returning from school and discovering both parents dead inside an east valley apartment.
LAS VEGAS — Two girls who returned from school and found both of their parents dead in an apparent murder-suicide are now in the care of a guardian as police investigate the domestic shooting and mental health professionals point to the severe trauma children can face after violent loss.
The deaths occurred Monday, Aug. 24, at an apartment in the 4900 block of South Nellis Boulevard near Tropicana Avenue. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said officers responded at about 3:40 p.m. after receiving a report of two people shot inside. A daughter had returned from school and found her mother and father wounded. Both adults were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said detectives determined that the husband shot his wife and then himself. The couple had recently separated. During a preliminary police briefing, Lt. Robert Price said investigators believe the husband entered the apartment before the woman returned home and waited for her. Authorities have not publicly identified either parent or announced a motive.
The couple’s two daughters discovered the scene after school, according to police. A guardian later came for the children. Authorities have released few other details about the girls, and their identities have not been made public. The limited disclosure keeps the focus on the investigation while shielding minors who have already experienced an extraordinary family loss.
Dr. Sid Khurana of Nevada Mental Health told News 3 that children exposed to a violent death involving both parents can face several overlapping forms of trauma. In this case, he said, the children are confronting the death of a parent by homicide, the death of another parent by suicide and the combined circumstances of a murder-suicide.
Khurana said research has associated such experiences with an elevated risk of psychiatric problems that can include depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. The exact effect on any individual child cannot be predicted, and police have not released information about the girls’ medical or psychological condition. Their immediate circumstances beyond being placed with a guardian also have not been disclosed.
The shooting has also drawn renewed attention to domestic violence in the Las Vegas Valley. Metro told News 3 that 15 homicides investigated this year had been linked to domestic violence. Sheriff Kevin McMahill has identified domestic violence as a leading factor in killings handled by the department, placing the deaths on South Nellis Boulevard within a broader pattern confronting local investigators.
Police have not said whether the department had previous contact with the couple, whether there were prior allegations of domestic violence or whether any protective court orders were in place. Investigators also have not disclosed how the husband entered the apartment or what evidence led detectives to reconstruct the sequence of events described publicly.
The Clark County coroner is expected to handle the formal identification of the adults and determine the cause and manner of their deaths. Metro’s Homicide Section continues to investigate, while the couple’s daughters remain with a guardian and outside the public focus of the case.
Author note: Last updated August 27, 2026.