Evan Scoggins

Evan Scoggins was a creative and enthusiastic 20-year-old with a passion for art and filmmaking. Remembered by friends and family as funny and humble, the White male was studying filmmaking at the College of Southern Nevada and working a part-time job. His life, along with his mother's, was cut short on the evening of October 11, 2024, in an act of violence inside their family home in Henderson, Nevada.

That Friday evening, a neighbor on Black Rock Hills Drive witnessed Evan’s stepfather, 41-year-old Karl Groschen, push him out of the garage while yelling, "Go to your car, get out of here." A moment later, the neighbor heard a gunshot and the sound of someone screaming. Evan was then seen running back into the house in what the witness described as a panic. Several more gunshots followed before silence fell over the home. Evan's father later said he believed his son ran back inside in an attempt to protect his mother and his 5-year-old half-brother.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Karl Groschen himself called 911, telling the dispatcher, "You need to come here now; there's a huge crime scene." When Henderson police officers arrived, Groschen came out of the front door holding prescription bottles and a drink. He told an officer, "You have to take me; I thought they were trying to kill me." Inside, police discovered the body of Evan’s mother, 44-year-old Anastasiya Akutsina, in the garage. Evan was found deceased in the laundry room. An investigation determined that Evan had been shot five times and his mother four times. Police recovered a 9mm handgun but found no evidence to support Groschen's claim that he was in danger.

Karl Groschen was arrested at the scene and held without bail. In November 2024, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon. He was also charged with one count of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment with a deadly weapon, as his and Anastasiya's young son was present in the home during the killings. The child was not physically harmed and was taken into the care of Child Protective Services. After a competency hearing was ordered, Groschen was found fit to stand trial.

In December 2024, prosecutors filed a notice of their intent to seek the death penalty, citing aggravating circumstances. Karl Groschen pleaded not guilty to all charges in January 2025. As of that month, the case is pending trial.