A 20-year-old woman and a 1-year-old girl were found shot inside an SUV in the Southern Highlands area of Las Vegas late Monday night after officers heard gunfire during a nearby traffic stop, police and the county coroner said.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as Danaijha Robinson, 20, and Nhalani Hiner, 1, and ruled both deaths homicides. Investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department have not said why the shooting happened or who fired. By Wednesday, police said they were also reviewing whether an arrest in Utah involving a stolen vehicle could be tied to the case, but no public announcement had been made about charges in Nevada.
Police said the shooting unfolded just after 9 p.m. Monday, March 2, as patrol officers were conducting a vehicle stop near Starr Avenue and Interstate 15. Officers heard gunfire, and dispatchers also received multiple reports of shots in the same area, the department said in a public release. Officers drove through nearby streets and found an SUV on Victoria Medici Street with what police described as several bullet impacts. The woman and child were inside the vehicle, both suffering from gunshot wounds. “As they turned into the neighborhood, they located a vehicle that had several impacts from gunfire,” homicide Lt. Robert Price said during a briefing carried by local media.
Medical crews took both victims to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead, Price said. Police have not said whether the SUV was moving or parked when it was hit, or whether the shots came from another vehicle, from the street or from nearby property. Investigators also have not released a description of a suspect or a suspect vehicle. Price said early Tuesday that detectives had no motive and no one in custody. Police said they believe the woman and child were related, but Price added that Robinson was not believed to be the child’s mother. A lawyer who said he represents Robinson’s family confirmed her identity to local television before the coroner’s office released the names.
The shooting happened in the southwest Las Vegas Valley near the Southern Highlands master-planned community, a neighborhood of newer homes and winding residential streets close to major corridors such as Starr Avenue and Dean Martin Drive. Neighbors described the area as typically quiet at night, with little traffic beyond residents and delivery drivers. The sudden burst of gunfire and the arrival of patrol cars and ambulances left some residents stunned. Police said officers canvassed the neighborhood in the hours after the shooting, looking for witnesses and video from doorbell cameras and private security systems that might show a car speeding away or a person running from the area.
On Wednesday, police and local media reported a possible lead outside Nevada. Authorities in Ogden, Utah, arrested a suspect Tuesday afternoon after a pursuit involving a stolen black Mazda CX-9 with Arizona license plates, according to an arrest report described by local outlets. Ogden police said the driver sped away, ran a red light and ignored stop signs before briefly getting away and then fleeing on foot. Officers caught the suspect and took him into custody. During the pursuit, Ogden police learned the suspect was wanted for a homicide investigation out of Las Vegas, and the vehicle was towed to Las Vegas so it could be secured and searched, according to the report.
Las Vegas police have not publicly named the suspect or said the person has been booked in Clark County in connection with Robinson and Hiner’s deaths. Reports from Utah said the suspect faced charges there, including reckless driving and failing to stop for an officer. Police have described the Utah case as a possible connection, not a confirmed one, and investigators have not explained how a stolen vehicle case could link to the shooting on Victoria Medici Street. Local television reported that Las Vegas detectives traveled to Utah on Wednesday to interview the suspect while coordinating with Ogden investigators. Any decision to file charges in Nevada would likely follow interviews, review of evidence from the scene and forensic work on the SUV and any recovered casings or bullets.
The investigation has also raised questions about what happened in the minutes before the shooting. Police have said officers were in the area for an unrelated traffic stop when the shots rang out. A source close to the case told local television that the vehicle involved in the traffic stop may be connected to the SUV where the victims were found, but police have not explained the nature of that connection. The department has not said whether Robinson or the child had any link to the traffic stop, whether they stopped because of nearby police activity or whether the gunfire began somewhere else and ended on Victoria Medici Street.
Residents who spoke to local reporters described hearing a burst of shots and then watching the street fill with emergency lights. Jean Paul Paquet, who lives on Victoria Medici Street, said he woke up to the noise and later saw the vehicle with shattered glass. “We woke up, and the dog was barking, and we looked out the window,” Paquet told local television. “We saw the car with the windows blasted out. Pretty frightening stuff.” Another neighbor, identified only as Troy, said he heard several shots, a short pause and then more gunfire. Relatives also told local media that Robinson had been caring for the child that night and was driving away from a home in the Southern Highlands area when the shooting happened, though police said the exact circumstances were still under review.
As of Wednesday night, March 4, police said the case remained active, with no public motive and no public accounting of how the shooter approached or escaped. Investigators were expected to continue reviewing video, interview witnesses and follow up on the Utah arrest for any direct tie to the Las Vegas killings. The next major update is expected if police announce an arrest in Nevada or release new details about what led to the shooting.
Author note: Last updated March 4, 2026.