Woman charged with attempted murder in Las Vegas courthouse hit-and-run

The woman arrested after a hit-and-run crash Monday afternoon outside the Regional Justice Center is now facing an attempted murder charge, court records show.

Shaquilla Brown, 44, was arrested shortly after the 12:48 p.m. crash, which injured Queva Staford, the sister of Jessie Bush Jr., a 47-year-old man who was shot dead last year.

The sister had been at the courthouse Monday to attend the trial of Asa Brown, the suspect in her brother’s murder. Shaquilla Brown is the suspect’s mother.

Records show that the mother also goes by the name Shaquilla Stafford. She is not related to Staford.

According to a criminal complaint, the mother was driving her vehicle near the courthouse when it veered off the roadway and jumped onto the sidewalk, striking Staford.

The sister suffered a non-critical leg injury and was taken to University Medical Center.

Moments before Staford was struck, prosecutors cautioned her to be careful about doing anything that could be considered communication with the man accused of killing her brother, Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci said.

“She was getting nasty looks thrown by the defendant back at her,” Pesci later told District Judge Douglas Herndon, who oversaw the trial of Asa Brown. “We told her specifically: Don’t make any gestures, comments, facial expressions toward the defense table. Just after that is when she got hit.”

Late Thursday afternoon, a jury found Asa Brown guilty of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon. His sentencing is slated for Nov. 28.

“I am hopeful that justice will be served for my brother,” Doris Bush, a sister of the shooting victim and crash victim, said outside the courtroom. “My brother was the type of person who encouraged people. When he’d see gangbangers, he’d encourage you to do something different with your life, and he’d give testimony on how he made it through.”

Bush said Staford has been released from the hospital but is in “a lot of pain.” The emotions of the week were compounded by the natural death of another sibling on Tuesday.

“It’s a pretty rough time right now,” she said.

Shaquilla Brown also faces charges of battery with a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of a crash, carrying a concealed firearm, and possession of a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number. She is due in court Oct. 11.

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.