Woman wants to withdraw plea in girl’s death, slashing blackjack dealer
A Las Vegas woman was appointed a new lawyer Monday in her attempt to withdraw a guilty plea in the killing of a 10-year-old girl and slashing of a Bellagio blackjack dealer.
Earlier this year, Brenda Stokes Wilson, 53, agreed to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole on a count of first-degree murder. But now she says she’s “innocent of the crimes charged and seek my day in court in order to prove my innocence.”
Pulling back on the deal with prosecutors means Wilson could face the death penalty if she goes to trial.
The agreement was “entered improperly, without advice of counsel and without understanding of the nature of the charge the, effect of the plea or of his her (sic) rights,” Wilson wrote in a handwritten motion filed last month. She added that she was “in a state of shock” when her plea was entered.
District Judge Kathleen Delaney appointed defense lawyer Christopher Oram to further represent Wilson in the case.
Jade Morris’s body was found in late December 2012 in a desert area of an undeveloped North Las Vegas neighborhood near Deer Springs Way and North Fifth Street by a person walking a dog.
A little more than 4 feet tall and weighing 102 pounds, Jade suffered 40 sharp-force wounds across her body from a large knife, according to a medical examiner. Some of her injuries — the most serious on her head, chest and abdomen — were so severe that she was likely unconscious within minutes.
Wilson had picked up the girl from Reeve’s home at 4:50 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2012, saying they were going Christmas shopping. Stokes was engaged to Jade’s father, Philip Morris, and had a close relationship with the girl for several years.
Authorities have said that the same night Wilson kidnapped the girl, authorities say, she approached a Bellagio blackjack table and began slashing the face of a dealer, 44-year-old Joyce Rhone. Wilson mistakenly believed Rhone had started dating Jade’s father.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker
