Christine Sanchez
A woman is suspected of fatally shooting three of her roommates Friday afternoon in a southeast valley residence police described as being a “problem house,” according to Metro Police.
Christine Rose Sanchez, 47, earlier this year had a 2014 North Las Vegas murder case against her dismissed, Clark County District Court records show. Police had alleged she’d shot and killed a 52-year-old woman she’d been acquainted with.
In the latest case, Sanchez was taken into custody Friday night in a central valley neighborhood about 15 miles north from the crime scene, and subsequently booked at the Clark County Detention Center on three counts of murder with a deadly weapon, police said.
Hours earlier, police had responded to a dilapidated house in the 4300 block of Del Santos Drive, near Tropicana Avenue and Lamb Boulevard.
Officers arrived about 1:30 p.m. to find three bodies, a woman’s in a bedroom, and two men’s in another, Metro Lt. Dan McGrath said. The shooter had pulled the trigger seven to eight times.
Police on Saturday said that there was an ongoing dispute between Sanchez and the three victims. The sequence of events wasn’t entirely clear, but police said the roommates had arrived at the house on Friday and that an argument preceded gunfire.
At least two women who may have witnessed the shooting fled the house after, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear if Sanchez was believed to be one of them.
The homeowner was interviewed by detectives, and so was another man who told them he was in a backyard shed and had slept through the incident, police said.
McGrath described the crime scene as a “crash house” where people come and go. A “problem house on the street that everyone is aware of,” he said. Within this year, officers have responded to that address at least a dozen times, to include calls about property crimes and disturbances.
Without further incident, Sanchez was apprehended by a police task force in a neighborhood near Alta Drive and Decatur Boulevard, police said.
Sanchez in September 2014 was arrested on a murder count in the shooting death of Bonnie Rice, 52, inside the victim’s North Las Vegas apartment.
North Las Vegas police had alleged Sanchez shot Rice multiple times before stealing her vehicle.
In January this year, the case was reassigned, court records how. On June 14, it was dismissed on behalf of a voluntary request from prosecutors, records show. The specifics of the case weren’t immediately clear Saturday night.
A couple of months before Rice’s death, a Christine Rose Sanchez was arrested on one count each of domestic battery and attempted murder with a deadly weapon, court records show. Those charges were dismissed the following month.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro at 702-828-3521 or via email at [email protected]. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or online at crimestoppesrofnv.com.