Man pleads guilty but mentally ill in Las Vegas attack on elderly Asian neighbor

A man has pleaded guilty to a hate crime attack on his elderly Asian neighbor.

Christian Lentz pleaded guilty but mentally ill on April 21 to counts of residential burglary motivated by bias or hatred toward the victim and abuse of an older person with death or substantial harm motivated by bias or hatred.

Authorities said Lentz attacked his Filipino-American neighbor, Amadeo Quindara, now 77, inside Quindara’s garage in 2023. The day before, Quindara previously said in an interview, Lentz told Quindara and his wife to speak English while the couple was talking in Tagalog with their fellow Filipino neighbors.

On May 30, Quindara alleged Lentz threatened to “put him on a ventilator,” then repeatedly punched him in the face and slammed him on the ground. Quindara’s wife found him lying in a pool of his own blood. He was later diagnosed with a brain hematoma.

Lentz’s sentencing is scheduled for July 21. His plea agreement specifies he will be isolated from the general population in prison until a psychiatrist or psychologist decides he no longer needs “acute mental health care.” If he is placed in the general population, his plea deal requires that he receive mental health treatment.

He had been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation but was found competent in July 2023.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.