Parents miss court dates in child’s death; vigil gets heated

A 23-year-old Las Vegas woman accused of driving while intoxicated in a crash that killed her 1-year-old son missed her court appearance Thursday due to a medical issue.

The nature of the issue that prevented Lauren Prescia from appearing in the courtroom of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum was not specified.

Baucum appointed defense attorney Daniel Hill to represent Prescia.

A criminal complaint charges Prescia with child abuse, DUI resulting in death and reckless driving in the crash that killed her toddler, Royce Jones, near the intersection of Lake Mead and Rampart boulevards Sunday.

Authorities said Prescia was driving her 2020 Hyundai Sonata north on Rampart at 121 mph while street racing with the father of the child, Cameron Hubbard-Jones, when Prescia lost control of her vehicle.

Hubbard-Jones, 23, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of reckless driving causing death. He was not present Thursday in the courtroom of Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure. A bailiff said he refused to be transported because of medical reasons.

Bonaventure ordered that Hubbard-Jones be held without bail. The judge noted that the man’s arrest Wednesday could represent a violation of probation.

Court records show that Hubbard-Jones is on probation for a 2019 conviction of battery with substantial bodily harm and battery constituting domestic violence for an attack on Prescia.

Prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed in that case that Hubbard-Jones hit Prescia in the face in December 2018.

He received a suspended sentence of 12 to 34 months in prison in that case and was placed on probation.

Police said Hubbard-Jones was driving a 2017 Mercedes-Benz GL450 and was next to the Hyundai while both cars were speeding.

Police used dashcam footage from two other drivers, surveillance footage from the Department of Transportation and a nearby business to determine the two were street racing for nearly a mile before the crash, according to Hubbard-Jones’ arrest report released Thursday.

New details in the report also reveal that the 1-year-old was buckled into a car seat but was ejected from the car after the Hyundai hit a marquee near a shopping plaza at Rampart and Lake Mead boulevards and sheared in half.

“The extreme speeds and driving behaviors were indicative of a speed contest between the two parents of the deceased juvenile,” a Wednesday news release from police said.

A vigil for the baby took place Thursday night at Buckskin Basin Park in northwest Las Vegas. Toward the end of the gathering, some people in attendance broke into several heated verbal altercations.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter. Review-Journal breaking news intern Sabrina Schnur contributed to this report.