Las Vegas Showgirl Killer Gets Life After Sanctuary State Slip-Ups

Yoni Barrios, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms for a vicious stabbing spree on the Las Vegas Strip in 2022 that left a showgirl and a Canadian tourist dead, and six others injured.

Barrios, 32, targeted Brent Allan Hallett, 47, and Maris Mareen DiGiovanni, 30, in a shocking attack that started after a group of showgirls refused to take a photo with him. Suddenly, he lashed out with a long kitchen knife, turning the Vegas Strip—usually a playground for tourists—into a scene straight out of a true crime podcast. Police caught him just minutes later outside the Wynn Hotel.

What makes this story even more infuriating is Barrios’ rap sheet in California, a sanctuary state that doesn’t always play nice with federal immigration authorities. Back in 2016, he was busted in Riverside for dangerous driving and not having a license. The result? A fine, and back out onto the streets. ICE later said they never got a heads-up about his immigration status.

Things didn’t get any better in 2019, when Barrios was charged with domestic violence. Prosecutors dropped the ball, and the case went nowhere. So despite multiple warnings, Barrios remained in the country—free to later unleash chaos in Las Vegas.

He was declared incompetent to stand trial at first and spent almost two years in a hospital before finally pleading guilty in January. On Tuesday, a judge handed down his sentence, closing the book on one of Vegas’s darkest recent chapters.

California’s sanctuary policies mean local law enforcement often keeps federal agencies like ICE in the dark about suspects’ immigration status. In Barrios’ case, that blackout had deadly consequences.