Two Bonanza High School juniors charged with reckless felony driving that resulted in the death of a Las Vegas man will remain in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center as their cases progress through the legal system.

Clark County Juvenile Court Judge William Voy made the decision Thursday, affirming detention recommendations from the prosecutor and a probation official. The two 17-year-olds, William Copsey and Christian Jordan, stood before Voy with bowed heads and shackled limbs, shaken by the denial of their requests for release.

"This is the most serious case we can possibly have," prosecutor Pandora Ahlstrom told Voy.

Copsey was the driver of a Ford F-150 that on Dec. 13 ran a stop sign at Oakey Boulevard and Cimarron Road and crashed into a flatbed truck driven by the victim, Brad Pidwell. Jordan was driving a Toyota Tundra. According to police, Jordan narrowly avoided a collision and fled the scene. The two teenagers allegedly were engaged in street racing.

Jordan's attorney, Pete Christiansen, sought to have his client released to the custody of his parents. Jordan wasn't in the accident, Christiansen said, and he wasn't the cause of the horrible outcome.

"It's a tragic case, obviously, but the tragedy is only being compounded by keeping this kid in jail, away from his younger sister and his mom and dad," Christiansen said.

He also told Voy that although his client may have committed traffic violations, he was not engaged in street racing.

"I've interviewed two witnesses who say there was no racing going on," Christiansen said. "There was traffic, unfortunate circumstance, one of the kids lost control of the vehicle, but there was no racing going on."

J.D. Evans, the attorney defending Copsey, asked Voy to consider releasing his client and monitoring him with an electronic device. Copsey has no prior record, Evans said, and has a strong family network that would supervise him closely.

Ahlstrom countered both requests and took issue with Christiansen's assertion that the suspects weren't street racing. Two women unrelated to the suspects told police that the two trucks were clearly involved in a road race, Ahlstrom said. The suspects were driving at least 60 to 75 mph, the witnesses said, and repeatedly failed to signal lane changes.

"It's the state's position that this individual would still be alive today if this race hadn't been going on," Ahlstrom said.

The attorneys made their statements in an emotionally charged courtroom filled with family members of the two suspects and the victim. Members of the Pidwell family reacted so strongly to statements from the defense attorneys that Voy instructed a bailiff to ask them to control their facial reactions. At Voy's decision to keep the two juveniles in detention, several family members in the back row burst into tears.

"I feel terrible for them," said Brian Pidwell, 45, brother of the 34-year-old victim. "I don't hate them. I'm not angry at them. This isn't an anger issue for me. The issue for me is responsibility and accountability."

Friends and co-workers of Brad Pidwell, who worked at Kelly's Glass, have been circulating a petition to have the teens tried as adults. By Thursday, they had gathered about 700 signatures, which they planned to turn over to the court.

District Attorney David Roger said last week that he didn't plan to seek certification of the two juveniles as adults. However, on Thursday, Ahlstrom reminded Voy that could change.

"We have until the trial to change that decision," she said.

"Well, please don't keep me in suspense," Voy responded.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for next Friday.