Allysandra Blea pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after 23-year-old Mark Santiago Gaughan was shot and killed during a Las Vegas photoshoot on Aug. 23, 2025. Investigators say Gaughan was photographing Blea holding a gun when it discharged, and evidence later cast doubt on her initial claim that the shooting was accidental. Authorities uncovered disturbing online posts and Polaroids connected to Blea, and she referenced her grandfather, a convicted sex offender previously investigated in New Mexico killings. Blea accepted a plea on June 2 and was sentenced to a term reported as five years to life in prison.
Granddaughter Of Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced After Boyfriend Was Fatally Shot During Photoshoot
Mark Santiago Gaughan (left); and Allysandra Blea.Credit: GoFundMe; FOX5 Las Vegas/YouTube
A Nevada woman has been sentenced months after her boyfriend was fatally shot during a Las Vegas photoshoot.
Authorities say 23-year-old Mark Santiago Gaughan was struck by a bullet outside a Las Vegas home on Aug. 23, 2025. Officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded early that morning to a report of a shooting and found Gaughan on the sidewalk; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Joseph BleaCredit: Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal/ZUMAPRESS.com
Police identified Allysandra Blea as the shooter and arrested her days later on a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon. Investigators reconstructed the incident and said Gaughan had been photographing Blea as she posed with a firearm by a vehicle when the weapon discharged and struck him. Blea initially told officers the shooting was accidental, but investigators later reported evidence that contradicted that claim.
"I wish I could shoot people with real guns and get away with it," investigators say Blea wrote in an online message linked to the case.
Prosecutors and local media reported that investigators uncovered troubling online posts and Polaroid images associated with Blea. The posts allegedly included violent fantasies and statements about wanting to harm sex workers and bury victims in the desert; Polaroids showed Blea holding a gun while another person held a knife. When questioned, Blea reportedly said she was joking and referenced her grandfather.
Mark Santiago Gaughan.Credit: Palm Eastern Mortuary & Cemetery
Blea's grandfather, Joseph Blea, is a convicted sex offender who authorities have identified as a suspect in a number of killings in New Mexico but who has never been charged with murder, according to prior reporting.
Gaughan was an only child. Local reports said he had a close relationship with his mother, Christine Gaughan, and a GoFundMe organized to help her after his death raised more than $9,000.
On June 2, Blea pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea agreement that avoided a trial and reduced her original charge. Under reporting from local outlets, she was sentenced to a term described as five years to life in prison.
This case drew attention not only for the fatal shooting itself but also for the disturbing online material uncovered during the investigation and the connection to a relative with a criminal history. Local law enforcement agencies and several news organizations provided details used in the reporting.
Help us improve.
