Police ID’d women accused in man’s death at Las Vegas hotel through Instagram

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Law enforcement were able to identify two women accused of murdering a man inside a Las Vegas Strip hotel room earlier this month through posts shared on their Instagram accounts, police say.

Erika Covington, 20, and Arionna Taylor, 20 are both charged with open murder with a deadly weapon and robbery in the May 15 incident, records show.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the women were seen on surveillance video at the hotel with the alleged victim, who was identified in an arrest report as Bryan Altamirano-Solano.

The bullet that killed Solano matched the cartridge casing from a previous domestic violence case that involved Taylor, police said in the report.

Taylor had given officers her phone number on May 10. Using it, they were able to find her Instagram account.

According to the report, a video Taylor posted on Instagram showed her wearing the same clothes that she was allegedly seen wearing while running away from the scene with Covington.

Covington’s Instagram page was also tagged in another post by Taylor, police note in the report.

The report says that on May 17, both women were taken into custody. Covington initially denied any involvement. However, police said that when she was shown photos of herself at the scene, she admitted to being at the hotel with the victim.

According to the report, Taylor told police she has a bad memory due to a car crash and couldn’t recall details. However, when shown photos of her being at the scene with the victim, police wrote that Taylor said it was her but had no memory of the events and that detectives “needed to do their job.”

Both women were taken into custody. Their next hearing is June 22, records show.

Copyright 2023 KVVU. All rights reserved.