Police say Maurice Vanderhall’s reported admission helped investigators build the case now headed for sentencing.
HENDERSON, Nev. — A man’s call to police reporting that he had killed his girlfriend led officers to a Henderson condo where they found Kennedi Oriti dead from repeated stab wounds.
The emergency call on Dec. 2 became the first public marker in a case that later ended in a guilty plea. Maurice Vanderhall, 28, pleaded guilty March 17 to second-degree murder with a deadly weapon in Oriti’s death. The plea means the central question has shifted from who killed her to how long Vanderhall will serve after the May 6 sentencing hearing in Clark County.
Police were sent around 6:30 p.m. to an apartment and condo complex in the 200 block of West Horizon Ridge Parkway, near Eastern Avenue. Dispatchers had received a report from a man who said he had killed his girlfriend and was trying to hurt himself. When officers reached the home, Vanderhall was there. Accounts of the arrest report said he was covered in blood. “I killed my girlfriend,” he told authorities, according to reports describing the police record.
The call narrowed the first minutes of the response. Officers did not arrive to a vague report of a disturbance or a person who could not be found. They arrived to an address where the caller had identified himself as the killer and remained at the scene. Inside, officers found Oriti, 26, with multiple knife wounds to her face and neck. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Vanderhall was taken into custody and treated for injuries that investigators said were self-inflicted.
Police later learned from a family friend that Oriti had been moving out of the residence that day. The friend said he had helped her load her belongings before she went back inside alone. She wanted to check for anything left behind and say goodbye to Vanderhall, the friend told investigators. When she did not return, he tried calling her several times. She did not answer. That account placed Oriti’s final known actions within a short period between the move and the police call.
The evidence described in the arrest record included the scene inside the condo and the weapons found there. Reports said Oriti had about 20 stab wounds, mainly to the face and neck. Three blood-covered knives were recovered, including a butcher knife. Vanderhall had stab wounds to his forearm and knee, and he told investigators he had attempted suicide and tried to hang himself in a closet after the attack. Police have not publicly identified another suspect, and the court case proceeded against Vanderhall alone.
The guilty plea gave prosecutors a conviction without a trial, but it did not make the sentencing automatic. Second-degree murder with a deadly weapon carries a serious range in Nevada, and reports on the plea said Vanderhall faces at least 10 years in prison with a possible maximum of 25 years or life. The court may consider the plea, the number of wounds, the presence of multiple knives, Oriti’s vulnerability during the move and any statements presented by people affected by her death.
The deadly weapon part of the plea is more than a description of the attack. Under Nevada law, using a deadly weapon during a felony can add punishment to the underlying crime. In this case, the weapon allegation comes from the knives police said were used in the stabbing. The judge will decide the sentence after hearing from the parties. The plea agreement resolved the question of guilt, but it left the final punishment open within the legal range described in court records and reports.
Oriti’s death came five days before her 27th birthday. Friends later used her obituary page to describe the person behind the case file. One friend wrote that she had “so many beautiful memories with Kennedi” and shared photos from a group trip to Las Vegas at the end of October. The tribute said the friend had watched Oriti grow and was proud of her. Those remarks are separate from the court evidence, but they show the loss that family and friends may bring into the sentencing phase.
The location, about 17 miles southwest of Las Vegas, is part of Henderson’s suburban edge, where condo complexes sit near busy roads and desert hills. The reported 911 admission brought police quickly to the residence, but it did not answer every question. Investigators have not released a full public transcript of what happened inside after Oriti reentered. The record available through reports explains who called, what officers found and what Vanderhall admitted, but not every moment before the first stab wound.
At sentencing, prosecutors are likely to focus on the violence of the attack and the circumstances of Oriti’s final return to the condo. The defense may point to Vanderhall’s plea and his condition after the stabbing. The judge may also hear victim-impact statements, which often describe the harm a homicide caused beyond the crime scene. The hearing will not reopen the investigation. It will set the punishment for a killing Vanderhall has already admitted in court.
Vanderhall remained set for sentencing May 6. The police call that began with his reported admission now leads to a final courtroom step, where Oriti’s death and the evidence from the condo will be weighed before a prison term is imposed.
Author note: Last updated April 28, 2026.