Sandra Cruz-Lopez, a 39-year-old Hispanic woman and mother of seven, was remembered by her family as a good person with a good heart. Her life ended tragically on Mother’s Day, May 9, 2021, in the far east Las Vegas Valley. That morning, firefighters responded to a vehicle fire on Bureau of Land Management property near Frenchman Mountain and discovered her body inside the scorched truck.
The Clark County coroner’s office later determined that she had died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled her death a homicide.
Investigators soon learned that Cruz-Lopez’s murder was connected to another killing that same day. Eric Mosley, 31, had been found shot to death inside a trailer in a North Las Vegas parking lot. Witnesses told police that Cruz-Lopez had been at the trailer just before Mosley was killed and disappeared shortly after. The motive for the violence was reportedly an unpaid debt of up to $800 that Mosley owed for a stolen truck.
The investigation led police to Antonio Barry-Edwards, then 24, and his girlfriend, Jordan Monahan, then 30. After finding a stolen Chevrolet Silverado seen on surveillance footage near the crime scene, police discovered fingerprints belonging to both Barry-Edwards and Monahan inside. A witness later provided a harrowing account to detectives, stating that Barry-Edwards and Monahan were in the truck with Cruz-Lopez after Mosley had been killed. According to the witness, Barry-Edwards told Monahan to shoot Cruz-Lopez, but she hesitated. Barry-Edwards then shot Cruz-Lopez himself approximately seven times, including once in the face, before he and Monahan set the truck on fire.
On October 26, 2021, police arrested Monahan. Barry-Edwards was already in custody at the Clark County Detention Center on unrelated charges stemming from a 29-hour standoff with police at a motel in May 2021. Both were charged in connection with the murder of Sandra Cruz-Lopez, with charges including murder, kidnapping, and arson. Barry-Edwards was also charged with the murder of Eric Mosley.
In August 2026, Antonio Barry-Edwards entered into a plea agreement, pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon for the deaths of Sandra Cruz-Lopez and Eric Mosley. The parties agreed to a sentence of 25 years to life for each count, to be served consecutively, for an aggregate sentence of 50 years to life in prison. Court records also showed that co-defendant Jordan Monahan entered a guilty plea in connection with Cruz-Lopez's murder. As of September 2026, the case was considered closed with these convictions.
