Suspected DUI driver’s bail set at $500K after high school senior’s death
A judge on Saturday set bail for the man accused of hitting and killing a Las Vegas Valley high school senior while driving impaired at $500,000.
Keenan Jackson, 37, of Las Vegas, made an initial appearance Saturday morning before Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Daniel Westmeyer following Friday’s collision along North Buffalo Drive, just steps from the Arbor View High School main entrance.
Jackson was driving a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu when he struck an 18-year-old Las Vegas woman in front of the school at about 11:25 a.m. on Friday, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a press release late Friday.
Near the crash site Friday, multiple Arbor View students and their parents said the student killed was McKenzie Scott, a senior at Arbor View.
Scott, whose identity had not been released by the Clark County coroner’s office as of Saturday, was taken after the crash to University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Friends said she was slated to attend the school’s prom Saturday night and was scheduled to graduate later this month.
During Saturday morning’s brief hearing, Jackson’s public defender, Josie Bayudan, said Jackson moved to Las Vegas from New York in December to look for work.
Bayudan noted a lack of criminal history for Jackson, though Westmeyer agreed with the prosecution’s assertion that Jackson posed a danger to the community before he agreed to the requested $500,000 bail amount.
As of Saturday evening, jail records showed that Jackson remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center.
Support from school community
While the Regional Justice Center was mostly empty Saturday morning, several of Scott’s classmates attended the hearing.
On the downtown Las Vegas courthouse steps after the hearing, Arbor View senior Brayden Boulter said the school community has come together to help mourn Scott.
“It’s the beginning of May and it’s that month where we’re looking at new beginnings for our lives,” Boulter said. “We were all on cloud nine (on Friday). During fifth period, we heard that our grad walk got canceled out of nowhere, then the rumors started getting around about what happened. The energy we had did a complete 180.”
After the crash scene was cleared Friday afternoon, and as twilight began to fall, students and others began to arrive to erect a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk along Buffalo Drive.
By nightfall, several dozen people, mostly students, talked quietly and prayed together before the group began to disperse after 10 p.m.
Before that, Adrianna Ornelas, a senior at Arbor View, told reporters that Scott “was a beautiful girl with a bright smile.”
“She was a bright sun on a very dark road,” Ornelas said while fighting back tears. “Every person she came in contact with, they were happier in her presence.”
Ornelas said Scott planned to attend UNLV in the fall.
As of Saturday evening, a GoFundMe page that had been set up to raise money to help Scott’s family with funeral and burial expenses had raised nearly $23,000 and was zeroing in on its listed $25,000 goal.
The fundraiser’s organizer was listed as Tiffany Reynolds. A description on the GoFundMe page said “our 18-year-old daughter, McKenzie Scott, passed away in a tragic accident on Friday…” and described Scott as being “full of light, hope and kindness.”
Problem area for pedestrians
According to court records, Jackson was charged with DUI of alcohol and/or controlled substance resulting in death, and reckless driving, both felonies, and driving without a valid license, a misdemeanor.
On Friday, Clark County School District Superintendent Jhone Ebert called the student’s death an “unimaginable loss” in a statement posted to X.
“She was a senior — full of promise, nearing graduation, and looking forward to a bright future,” Ebert said in the statement.
Ebert encouraged people to “remain vigilant and cautious, especially in areas near our schools.”
Boulter said it’s no secret that the area to the immediate west of the school can be dangerous for pedestrians.
“Buffalo near Grand Teton (Drive) is a very awful area,” Boulter said. “That’s a hard street to pass as a pedestrian. You have to be very careful in that crosswalk because there’s a U-turn spot there and there just needs to be better enforcement and better lights there. There needs to be some sort of signal or something there.”
Scott’s death marks the 59th traffic-related fatality in Metro’s jurisdiction in 2025.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.