Prosecutors said Wednesday that they may seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing two in a Las Vegas supermarket shooting.
In May, police said Alejandro Estrada, 43, entered the Smith’s at 9750 S. Maryland Parkway and fatally shot Amanda and Victor Frias Rosas, who worked at the store and married in 2025.
Amanda Frias Rosas was the mother of Estrada’s children. The two were entangled in a child support dispute, and Estrada was concerned about being jailed over unpaid support, police have said.
Wednesday’s hearing was scheduled to be an arraignment after Estrada was indicted by a grand jury last week.
But after Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said the case would go to his office’s death penalty review committee, public defenders agreed to delay the hearing.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said he makes the final call whether to pursue the death penalty against a defendant, after the case has been evaluated by the committee, which is made up of prosecutors.
Under state law, there must be at least one aggravating circumstance to consider a case for capital punishment, Wolfson has said, and cases with aggravators are almost always presented to the death review committee.
Defense attorneys are permitted to attend committee meetings and make arguments against capital punishment for their client.
Wolfson previously said “everything is on the table now” when asked at a news conference whether Estrada could face the death penalty.
“Many other people could have been injured or killed,” he told reporters.
Before the shooting, authorities said, Estrada went to the Frias Rosas’ home, where police found the master bedroom ransacked.
When arrested, he was found with a .45-caliber handgun and a 9 mm semiautomatic carbine, along with several loaded magazines for both firearms, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
