Detectives say they have no suspect or motive in the Monday night shooting in the southwest Las Vegas Valley.
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police are asking for the public’s help after a woman and a toddler were shot to death inside an SUV Monday night in the southwest valley, a killing investigators said unfolded moments after officers heard gunfire while handling a nearby traffic stop.
Police said the victims were found in a neighborhood near Starr Avenue and Dean Martin Drive, a busy corridor just west of Interstate 15. Homicide investigators said the case remains unsolved, with no one in custody and no public description of a suspect vehicle. The deaths rattled residents who described a normally quiet block and left detectives searching for video and witnesses who may have seen the shooting or the moments leading up to it.
Officers were conducting what police described as a routine traffic stop at about 9 p.m. Monday near Starr Avenue and Dean Martin Drive when they heard a rapid series of gunshots, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said. Officers drove toward the sound and entered a nearby residential area, where they spotted an SUV with multiple bullet strikes on Victoria Medici Street. Homicide Lt. Robert Price told reporters that the vehicle showed several impacts from gunfire, suggesting multiple rounds were fired. When officers reached the SUV, they found two people inside, a woman in her 20s and a toddler, Price said. Officers began lifesaving efforts until medical crews arrived. Both victims were taken to University Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead, Price said.
Detectives said the shooting appeared to be targeted at the vehicle, but they have not said whether the SUV was moving or parked when it was hit. Police also have not said how many shots were fired, what kind of firearm was used, or where investigators believe the shooter was positioned. Price said early briefings produced no known motive and no immediate suspect. Investigators spent the hours after the shooting canvassing the neighborhood, looking for home surveillance footage, doorbell video, and anyone who heard or saw the gunfire. Police said they were also trying to map out the minutes surrounding the traffic stop because officers were already in the area when the shots were fired.
Family and community members later identified the woman as Danaijha Robinson, 20, as police continued to withhold an official name release. A fundraiser circulating online described Robinson as caring for the toddler at the time of the shooting, and Price said investigators believed the woman and child were related but that Robinson was not the child’s mother. He said confirming the relationship and the circumstances that put the two in the SUV are part of the investigation. Police have not released the toddler’s name or age beyond describing the child as a toddler, and they have not said whether the child lived in the neighborhood or was visiting.
As the investigation pushed into Tuesday, police worked to separate what was confirmed from what remained unclear. A source close to the investigation told local media that the vehicle involved in the traffic stop was connected to the SUV where Robinson and the child were found, though police have not publicly explained that connection. Detectives have not said whether the shooting happened during an exchange between multiple vehicles, whether someone followed the SUV into the neighborhood, or whether the shooter fled before officers arrived. Police also have not said whether they recovered shell casings, a weapon, or any other physical evidence that could identify a shooter or link the crime to another case.
Residents on Victoria Medici Street said the violence struck without warning. Jean Paul Paquet, who lives on the street, said he woke up to the sound of shots and then saw the aftermath outside his home. Paquet said he later found himself spraying blood and glass from the curb as investigators processed the scene and vehicles rolled through the neighborhood. “We woke up, and the dog was barking, and we looked out the window,” Paquet said. “We saw the car with the windows blasted out.” Another neighbor, who identified himself only as Troy, said the shots came in bursts, with a brief pause before more gunfire. “I heard three and then like two seconds later, the rest,” he said.
The location of the shooting sits near the Southern Highlands area, where residential streets branch off major arteries that carry heavy nighttime traffic. Police said the SUV was found in the 11000 block of Victoria Medici Street, a stretch of homes set back from the main roads. Investigators did not immediately say whether the SUV’s occupants had just arrived, were leaving, or were caught while driving through. In a separate interview, the woman’s sister told a local station that the family believed Robinson had been leaving a friend’s house and that two cars were traveling together when one was stopped by police, prompting Robinson’s vehicle to stop as well. Police have not publicly confirmed that sequence, but detectives said they are working to reconstruct movement in the area using witness accounts and any available video.
Detectives said the most urgent next steps include identifying the shooter’s path into and out of the neighborhood and determining whether the gunfire came from a passing car, a nearby street corner, or another location. Police said they are also interviewing people connected to the victims to learn who they were meeting, where they had been earlier in the evening, and whether anyone had threatened them. Investigators asked anyone with doorbell or home security video from the Starr Avenue and Dean Martin Drive area, or from Victoria Medici Street and surrounding blocks, to preserve that footage. Police said tips can be directed to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Section at 702-828-3521 or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
As daylight returned Tuesday, the street showed signs of a long night: police tape was gone, but the sense of shock remained. Neighbors described the sound of shots as unlike fireworks and said they were unnerved by how quickly officers converged on the SUV. Some residents said they checked on family members and kept children inside as investigators worked nearby. Others said they hoped video from the neighborhood would help identify the shooter before more violence strikes. Police said they had not made an arrest and had not released a suspect description by Tuesday afternoon.
By Wednesday, detectives said the case was still active and urged anyone who saw a vehicle speeding away, heard an argument, or noticed anything unusual around 9 p.m. Monday to come forward. Police said the next milestone will be the review of any surveillance footage gathered from the neighborhood and nearby roadways as investigators continue to seek a suspect and a motive.
Author note: Last updated March 4, 2026.