A Las Vegas man was charged with murdering a woman believed to be his lover, in front of her child, who went to seek help from a neighbor.

Police arrested Ishmil Swafford, 43, on Friday, and he is facing a murder charge in the death of Yetundi Yvonne Negritia Maples, 46.

Maples was shot dead early Thursday morning, on October 27, in her home in Las Vegas. A neighbor reported the shooting to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at around 1:20 am.

After the suspect shot Maples in her house, her son, who is only six-years-old, ran away from the home and sought refuge from a neighbor.

Alejandra Verduzco, 29, was the kind neighbor who let the boy inside the house at such an odd hour. She said she heard a knock on the door, and when she opened it, the boy immediately told her that his mom had just been killed. She let him into the house, and the boy started crying profusely and shaking.

Verduzco tried to calm the boy down and comfort him. The child was well known in the neighborhood as neighbors would see him walking his dog, and he would proudly tell anyone who cared to listen that he was six-years-old.

An arrest report by the Police Department said that as the boy walked out of the house, he told the alleged attacker, Swafford, that he had hurt his mother. Swafford replied that she would be fine.

The exchange, which happened at around 1 am, was witnessed by another neighbor, who also heard loud gunshot from the house.

After the brief conversation with the murder suspect, Maples’ son, who was barefoot and shirtless, went to Alejandra Verduzco’s home. Although the police redacted the boy’s name and age from their report, neighbors recollect him saying he was six-years-old.

When police arrived at the house, they found Maples unresponsive, with a gunshot wound to her head. Paramedics examined her and pronounced her dead at the scene. According to investigators, they found a 45-caliber casing outside Maple’s bedroom and four other cartridges near Maple’s body inside the bedroom.

Maples lived in the house with her son and Swafford. The police took the boy to the Southern Nevada Advocacy Center and interviewed him about what happened.

The 6-year-old told police that he had been in his bedroom upstairs when he heard his mother and Swafford arguing downstairs. He heard a gunshot, and when he ran downstairs, he found his mother’s face covered in blood.

The boy told the police that Swafford had shot his mother because she became angry, although Swafford denied shooting Maples.

The family and friends of Maples told the police that they had been trying to tell her to leave the suspect because he was physically abusive.