LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in her Las Vegas home and leaving their infant daughter alive before fleeing to San Diego will continue to be held without bail.
Michael Ricks, 25, made his second court appearance since being extradited to Las Vegas from San Diego, where he was arrested on Sept. 14 a day after the body of Makayla Adams, 20, was found.
Adams got into an argument with Ricks in her home near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Washington Avenue on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 13 before he stabbed and killed her, according to Las Vegas Metro police.
Adams’ body and her unharmed daughter were found by her parents. Her daughter, who her family said she shares with Ricks, is 8 months old.
In an earlier interview with 8 News Now, Adams’ mother, Monica Miner, said Adams had been in an abusive relationship with Ricks, who had threatened to kill her before. The two lived together in San Diego before Adams left in June and came to Las Vegas to live with her parents, Miner said.
“Makayla has told me he has choked her, dragged her by her hair, pulled her out of bed while she was sleeping,” Miner added. “He would manipulate her mind and talk her into going back to him, ‘I’ll be good, I’m sorry, forgive me, it won’t happen again,’ and Makayla loved him.”
Miner said that Ricks had been sending Adams messages on social media threatening her family, prompting Adams to file a restraining order against him in California. She was in the process of filing one in Nevada before her death, according to Miner.
Ricks was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on a charge for open murder with the use of a deadly weapon, child abuse or neglect, and burglary while possessing a deadly weapon.
Anyone in a violent relationship or who knows someone in a violent relationship is urged to seek help immediately. For a list of emergency hotlines, legal advice, shelters, protection order resources, and other information, visit this link.