‘She’s pregnant,’ friend yelled before woman was killed

Before 20-year-old Tinesha Antovia Adams was shot and killed, she scuffled with Norman Renord Smith in a North Las Vegas parking lot.

"What are you doing?" a friend told Smith, as he tried to shove her out of a car. "She's pregnant."

Moments later, prosecutors say, Smith pulled out a .40-caliber handgun, fired one shot at Adams' chest and dropped the weapon. She died later at University Medical Center. Adams had been carrying the baby, a boy, for 20 weeks.

Smith, who was immediately charged in Adams' death, has been indicted on one count of manslaughter of an unborn quick child, prosecutor Michael Schwartzer said Thursday.

The charge essentially means Adams was able to feel the movement of her child. Smith was not the father of the baby, the prosecutor said. Another person at the scene picked up the weapon, and it has not been recovered, but police found a shell casing in the parking lot.

At the time of the December slaying, the 19-year-old Smith was free on $160,000 bail in connection with a series of robberies and attacks along the Strip.

The killing occurred just two days before Smith appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on 14 counts, including attempted murder, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and conspiracy, in connection with the Strip attacks.

He was charged, along with six other people, in a series of attacks on three tourists and one local. Three defendants in the case have cut deals with prosecutors.

Smith's lawyer in the Strip case, Tony Abbatangelo, has said Smith had no criminal history before the attacks. His attorney for the murder charges, Karen Connolly, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Unique Berg testified that Smith, whom she knew only as "Meech," told her of a plan to lure men and rob them. Berg, who was 17 at the time, agreed to testify and prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge against her. She still faces several other charges as a juvenile.

Berg said she met up with Smith; Orlando Williams, 20; Roxanne Mir, 19; and Courtnee Bernard, 20, sometime on the evening of Sept. 5.

The women would approach men under the guise of needing assistance or propositioning sex, authorities said. The three incidents occurred over a span of about two hours in the early hours of Sept. 6.

Diana Tatarian, 29, and Wanda Turner, 63, each faced five counts, including conspiracy, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. They were charged only in connection with a robbery that started at Ellis Island Casino, less than a mile east of the Strip. Turner and Tatarian have since pleaded guilty in the case.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker