A man who fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend’s father in a 2021 home invasion was sentenced to life in prison without parole Thursday after loved ones of the victim told of the devastation the crime has caused.
Carlos Bernardo Cabrera, 28, was given the sentence by Chief District Court Judge Tierra Jones for the killing of Carlos Varela, 53, in Varela’s home near Christy Lane and Lake Mead Boulevard in northeast Las Vegas.
Jones called Cabrera’s actions that day “absolutely unthinkable” as she handed out the sentence.
One of Varela’s daughters, Ravaye Snead, told the judge Varela was a “truly beautiful person” and “a truly good, humble man who was taken from his family.”
“This murder has affected every part of my life and my children’s’ lives including our emotional health, our physical well-being and our sense of safety,” Snead said. “The grief is never-ending and has brought fear, anxiety, sleepless nights, emotional exhaustion and a constant awareness that the world no longer feels safe.”
Authorities said Cabrera was the ex-boyfriend of Varela’s daughter, Mariana Varela, and that she had broken off a relationship with Cabrera. Police said Cabrera climbed through an open window of the Varela home, repeatedly stabbed Carlos Varela and attacked Mariana. She survived.
Mariana Varela told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an interview last week that Cabrera was controlling and physically abusive to her prior to the attack. In court Thursday, she said after her father was stabbed, Cabrera held her at knifepoint and prevented her from calling 911 to get help for her father.
“When I get married my dad will never be there to walk me down the aisle,” she said, adding “I will forever miss my dad.”
Cabrera’s attorney, Chief Deputy Public Defender Robert O’Brien, said his client has severe autism. Cabrera was also beaten as a child by a former stepfather, and he had no criminal record prior to the killing.
O’Brien asked Cabrera be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, saying doing so would be “an incentive for someone like Carlos Cabrera to improve while he’s in prison.”
Cabrera apologized for his actions during a lengthy statement, saying “what I’ve done was despicable and I know that I can’t do anything to change it. I can’t change the past as much as I want to.”
At times, he wiped away tears as the victim’s family members spoke.
“I never thought I would be capable of doing such a thing,” he said, adding, “I just lashed out.”
O’Brien said when he first met Cabrera at the Clark County Detention Center his client was incapable of looking at people in the eyes while speaking and answered questions with single-word answers.
He said Cabrera is highly intelligent but has no coping skills for dealing with change in his life, and very few coping skills for stressful situations. He became isolated after high school with few friends. He went to the Varela home that night, O’Brien said, simply to seek closure over the failed relationship and was not planning to commit violence.
“He doesn’t know how to react to change at all,” O’Brien said. “There is very little emotional intelligence or ability to read other peoples’ emotions.”
Prosecutors were originally seeking the death penalty for Cabrera. In a plea deal in June, Cabrera pleaded guilty to murder, residential burglary, first-degree kidnapping and other felonies.
Carlos Varela’s son, Jeremy Harris, said his father was a well respected tradesman in Southern Nevada.
“My dad has been the most painful loss of my life,” he said. “My dad was a staple in the community. He worked on every hotel and casino in the valley since 1995. The same structures that bring countless jobs and help the Las Vegas economy grow. He was a master carpenter, a supervisor, an instructor, a mentor and friend to countless men and women who work in the trades.”
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
