Karen Lee Barreras of Sparks, Washoe County, Nevada, United States has died. She was 74.
Sparks is home to Excel Christian School. The city was named after John Sparks, the governor of Nevada from January 5, 1903 to May 22, 1908.
Karen Barreras
Aside from Sparks, Barreras also lived in other parts of Washoe County including Reno. In June 2024, she turned 74.
For three decades, Barreras worked in Catholic education. She served as the director of Holy Child Development Center in Reno, the principal at Little Flower School in Reno and the superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Reno, which oversees eight Catholic schools in the northern part of Nevada.
After this, Barreras joined the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). She was involved in the Diocese of Reno Scholarship, which won the NCEA Catherine T. McNamee President’s Award in 2014.
Robert Barreras
Barreras is the mother of Robert Barreras, 42, of Alhambra, Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is an alumnus of the University of Nevada, Reno in Reno.
In 2019, Robert became an emergency management official who specialized in emergency alerts in Los Angeles County. Within the office of emergency management, he specialized in building and maintaining the technology that quickly notifies residents of the country about emergencies through their phones, televisions and radios.
In 2024, Robert earned roughly $188,000 in total compensation from Los Angeles County as an emergency management official. While on leave, he allegedly murdered Karen.
Robert took advantage of a position of trust and confidence to commit the murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. On May 7, 2025, he was arrested in Alhambra and booked into the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County.
On May 9, 2025, Robert was charged with murdering his mother. On May 15, 2025, he pleaded not guilty.
Bail for Robert was set at $2 million. In August 2025, he will be back in court.
CONAN Daily 