Local News

Actions

UPDATE: Woman tells police they were role playing when she shot boyfriend

Santos, Maya 5105540 8-20-19 web format.jpg
Posted at 4:28 PM, Aug 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-04 12:25:58-04

UPDATE SEPT. 4: Maya Santos told police that she and her boyfriend were role playing when she accidentally shot him in the head.

According to the arrest report for Santos, the pair purchased two guns through social media because they were too young to purchase one legally.

On Aug. 12, they were watching YouTube videos about their guns when they decided to act out what they would do if a burglar came into their home.

Santos told police she thought the gun was unloaded but admitted she never checked for a bullet in the chamber.

The autopsy report revealed a contact wound, indicating the gun had been pressed to her boyfriend's head when she pulled the trigger.

RIGINAL STORY

20-year-old Maya Santos was arrested Monday and faces charges for open murder.

On Aug. 12 officers responded to a 911 call at a home in the 5000 block of Duneville Street, near Tropicana Avenue and Jones Boulevard.

Police say they found found a 19-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound at the home.

He was transported to UMC Trauma with a non-survivable injury and pronounced dead a few days later on Aug. 15.

Santos is being held at Clark County Detention Center without bail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.

Leilani Holmes spoke to 13 Action News about the unexpected death of her son David Tauiliili.

Investigators have yet to release more information but his mother says Tauiliili was shot in the head by Santos.

 "She emptied her clip but didn't know there was a bullet in the chamber. I get a call that he was shot in the head," says Holmes.
 
Their Las Vegas home is full of pictures, ranging from Tauiliili as a little kid to his recent high school photo.
 
“I would have never thought in a million years that this would happen not only to him but to us. We love him so much," Holmes says.
 
Holmes says her son was a good young man, he was “set on the right path."
 
David was 19, working as a telemarketer at a call center. He was starting his adult life, away from home, on his own.
 
"He would come to visit us. He would walk through the door and go straight to the piano and start playing."
 
But the antique piano that’s in their living room will no longer play his tunes.
 
"I wanted to see his talents flourish, but I won't be able to see that."
 
"Music is one of the best ways to remember him. Very humble and loving," says Tatyana Mara, Tauiliili’s younger sister.
 
His stepfather, Julius Holmes, says Tauiliili was like his kid, they’d often go fishing, and spend time together.
 
"It going to be kind of hard cause he'd always call talk to me about little things, nothing major. He didn't have problems with no one," Julius Holmes says.
 
The entire family says Tauiliili’s death is a personal tragedy, it is going to take them a while to accept he is gone.
 
His mother hopes those who have firearms know how to properly use them.
 
"You definitely don't want to bring something that could take a life [away] into your home. Especially, if you're not educated in that area."
 
Tauiliili will be laid to rest at the end of the month, his family is fundraising for funeral expenses. You can donate here.

 
The DC-based non-profit Gun Violence Archivereports there have been 214 firearm-related incidents in 2018 in Nevada, compared to 392 last year.
 
It also reports there have been six unintentional shootings while last year there were 13.