In the early hours of March 20, 2019, the life of 23-year-old Sonya White was tragically cut short in Las Vegas, Nevada. A North Las Vegas resident and a former student of the Las Vegas Academy, Sonya was discovered in a car near the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Russell Road alongside 22-year-old Shiloh J. Delph. Both had sustained fatal gunshot wounds to the head. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department swiftly classified the incident as a murder-suicide.
The events leading to the grim discovery began to unfold around 2:40 a.m. when a concerned driver dialed 911. The caller reported witnessing a car driving erratically, hitting a curb, and crossing multiple lanes of traffic before coming to a stop. Upon approaching the vehicle, the witness observed that the car's windows had been shot out and found both occupants unresponsive. When authorities arrived, they found a gun in the car and pronounced both Sonya and Shiloh Delph dead at the scene.
Investigators determined that Shiloh Delph shot Sonya White before turning the gun on himself. Consequently, Sonya's death was ruled a homicide, and Delph's a suicide. Because the perpetrator was deceased, no arrests were made in connection with Sonya's death. The motive behind the murder-suicide remains unknown, though it was reported that the two had been seen together at Town Square Las Vegas earlier that evening.
Friends and family of Sonya took to social media to express their grief and shock over her sudden and violent death. Her death marked the 26th homicide in Clark County for 2019.
