Woman pleads guilty in deadly 2015 crash on Las Vegas Strip, attorney says
A woman pleaded guilty Friday in connection with a crash on the Strip that killed one and injured dozens in 2015, according to court records and her attorney.
Lakeisha Holloway, who changed her name to Paris Morton, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon and a count of battery with use of a deadly weapon, according to defense attorney Monti Levy.
The 34-year-old is expected to serve a stipulated sentence of 18 years to life, with credit for the time she has been in custody, according to Levy.
“I think she’s thankful that there’s been a resolution to her case,” said Levy, who began representing Holloway in January.
The plea stemmed from a three-hour settlement conference, the attorney said, and District Judge Tierra Jones accepted the plea.
On Dec. 20, 2015, Holloway had been in Las Vegas for about a week and was in crisis. She was living in her car with her 3-year-old daughter, police said previously, and she told detectives that security guards kicked her out at every place she tried to stop and rest.
Authorities alleged she headed north on Las Vegas Boulevard in an Oldsmobile sedan, which she drove onto the sidewalk in front of Planet Hollywood and continued driving down the sidewalk until swerving off near what is now Horseshoe Las Vegas.
Jessica Valenzuela, 32, died. The Las Vegas Review-Journal previously reported that she had been trapped under the car for at least 200 yards. Thirty-five people, three of whom had critical head injuries, were hurt.
Holloway gave a jailhouse interview to the Review-Journal earlier this year and said she thinks constantly about the crash.
“I wish I could rewind the hands of time,” she said. “I wish no one had to feel this pain.”
The crash was not intentional, she told a reporter.
Since her arrest, she has undergone multiple competency evaluations at state psychiatric facilities. She attributed the unusual delay in her case to those stints and having multiple lawyers. She also said she had not seen her daughter since the crash occurred.
Holloway’s trial was most recently set for September 2026. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 25.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X. Review-Journal staff writer Bryan Horwath contributed to this report.
