In a chilling case that has shocked Nevada, a man from Las Vegas has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of his estranged wife. The tragic incident unfolded in August 2023, right before the eyes of their children, following a family court decision that granted the victim custody and ownership of the family residence.

Roidan Mendoza, aged 40, lashed out in a fit of anger and desperation after losing control over his children. Prosecutors revealed that his actions were driven by a desire for revenge against his former spouse, Marillorky Tamayo Cruz. His violent response to the court’s ruling led to a horrifying scene, as reported by local CBS affiliate KLAS and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“He wants to be vindicated,” stated Clark County Deputy District Attorney Corey Hallquist during Mendoza’s sentencing. Mendoza had pleaded guilty to murder with the use of a deadly weapon on August 25, 2025, sealing his fate with a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Hallquist highlighted the unimaginable fear and chaos experienced by Tamayo Cruz on that fateful night. She was at her mother’s apartment, surrounded by family, when Mendoza arrived and carried out the heinous act. “To feel the terror and the horror that’s going on in the apartment complex,” Hallquist recounted, describing the grim moment Mendoza decided to execute his wife in the presence of their child and her stepdaughter.

“To feel the terror and the horror that’s going on in the apartment complex,” Hallquist recounted. “When the defendant decided that he was going to execute his wife in front of his child and his stepdaughter.”

Three people, including Tamayo Cruz, were shot that evening. Mendoza fired 11 times into the apartment’s locks and broke into the home to find Tamayo Cruz in a bedroom, where he blasted her with “an execution-style shot to the forehead,” according to Hallquist.

The family court hearing in which Mendoza lost custody was earlier that same day. The couple was in the process of getting a divorce and Mendoza was supposed to be meeting up with Tamayo Cruz to switch cars, according to reports.

Tamayo Cruz’ daughter, who was 14 years old at the time, tried to stop Mendoza by stabbing him in the back with a knife. He took the blade away from her afterward and then tried slashing her back, but the teen managed to block the attack with her hands, leaving her with lacerations.

“I had to protect what I had left,” the now-17-year-old said in court at Mendoza’s sentencing. “So I grabbed a knife from the ground, and I planned to kill him.”

The daughter added, “I am not a tall person, nor was I strong. I was a 14-year-old girl trying to defend myself and my family.”

Mendoza apologized to Tamayo Cruz’ family in court on Wednesday, telling them through an interpreter that he didn’t go to her mother’s home “with the intention to harm anyone,” according to KLAS.

“I have a lot of pain in my heart,” Marilu Cruz-Tamayo, the victim’s mom, told Mendoza.

The man’s public defender claimed Mendoza “knows he shouldn’t have lost control, but unfortunately, he did,” per the Review-Journal.

“He didn’t want this to happen, he never wished it did, but being upset and angry and injured, he entered into this red zone of emotions,” the lawyer said.

Mendoza was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and two consecutive terms of 8 to 20 years in prison on the deadly weapon enhancements.