On March 26, 2024, Raul Ernesto Cardoza Lopez, 41, was shot and killed while seated in the driver's seat of his work van at the Venicia Apartments in the 3600 block of South Fort Apache Road in Las Vegas. He and his brother were working as carpet cleaners when a single, fatal gunshot was fired into the vehicle in broad daylight. Cardoza Lopez was taken to University Medical Center, where he died.

Metro Police investigators identified 27-year-old Kayla Alery at the scene. Staff at the apartment complex had reportedly been escorting her off the property after she was seen attempting to open car doors. As she walked past the van where Cardoza Lopez and his brother were, she fired the shot. Alery was arrested nearby and found in possession of a gun. She faces charges including open murder, possession of a gun by a felon, shooting into an occupied structure, and concealing a weapon without a permit, and was being held without bail.

Cardoza Lopez, a native of El Salvador, was described as a beloved and hardworking man and is survived by two daughters. Does anyone have information about Raul’s work that day or about activity at the Venicia Apartments that could help clarify what happened?