Top reporter stories from 2025 include slain officer, danger on Las Vegas streets
Carnage on local roads, a rash of inmate deaths at an area prison, the death of a North Las Vegas police officer, the killing of a popular Las Vegas bartender, and the “No Kings” protests that attracted thousands to downtown Las Vegas over the summer.
These were some of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Bryan Horwath’s most memorable local news stories of 2025.
An officer lost in the line of duty
On Feb. 4, North Las Vegas police officer Jason Roscow was killed in the line of duty while chasing after a suspect in a residential neighborhood.
The shooting death of Roscow, a 17-year police force veteran, rocked the Southern Nevada law enforcement community and made headlines for weeks. Roscow’s killer, Alexander Mathis, 25, was killed when Roscow, having been shot several times, returned fire, police said.
On Feb. 13, thousands paid their respects to Roscow and his family at Central Church in Henderson. Roscow, who left behind a wife and two sons, was 46.
A beloved bartender
Later that month, Hope Ritter, a beloved bartender at downtown Las Vegas’ Atomic Liquors, was shot to death as she sat in a parked vehicle just blocks from the bar.
Ritter, remembered fondly by co-workers and regulars at the Fremont Street bar, left behind a 10-year-old daughter.
“Everything Hope did was for her daughter,” said co-worker Maria Ledesma. “She was a hard worker who just wanted to always become a better version of herself. She was just so sweet.”
Ritter had moved from California to Las Vegas several years earlier for a fresh start. She was 29.
Two men, an 18-year-old and a 20-year-old, were later charged in connection with the killing.
Anti-Trump protests
On Flag Day, June 14, thousands of protesters filled the sidewalks and streets in downtown Las Vegas as part of a nationwide effort to rally against President Donald Trump’s administration and its crackdown on illegal immigration.
Though it was a typical hot Las Vegas summer afternoon and evening, throngs of people chanted, marched and held signs to make sure their voices were heard during the mostly peaceful protest.
“No Kings” protests happened that day in hundreds of cities across the United States, including at 5 p.m. at the federal building in downtown Las Vegas, where a demonstration days earlier on June 11 led to nearly 100 arrests, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
At the end of the night, Metro estimated that about 8,000 attended the protest, which began to dwindle by about 9 p.m. Fifteen people were arrested, police said.
Road deaths, concerns about e-bikes, e-scooters
Through December 14, Metro had recorded 154 deaths from fatal collisions in 2025 in its jurisdiction, three more than all of 2024.
A particularly devastating multi-vehicle crash in northwest Las Vegas happened on Nov. 18, and many other crashes have garnered interest from the public, law enforcement officials and lawmakers.
Metro also started tracking e-scooter fatal crashes this year and had recorded five deaths through mid-December.
A teenager recovering from serious injuries after being struck by a vehicle while riding an e-scooter also spoke about his experiences and offered advice for those who also use e-devices: “Wear a helmet and stay vigilant.”
And the owner of a Las Vegas shop that sells e-devices said he preaches daily to customers about wearing helmets and otherwise staying safe: “I tell people these things every day, but some people just don’t care.”
Deaths at High Desert
Another topic the Review-Journal covered in 2025 was the rash of young prisoners dying at a Southern Nevada correctional institution.
On Aug. 6, LeConna Cobbs got a call that no mother ever wants to receive.
“My sister told me she got a call from somebody at High Desert State Prison saying that my son got stabbed,” Cobbs said.
Cobbs’ son, D’marea Wallace, 18, was serving a sentence of three to eight years after he was convicted of robbery. According to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report, he used a fake handgun to rob two Las Vegas massage spa businesses when he was 16 in 2023.
As the year went on, it became clear that the summer had become an especially dangerous period for inmates at High Desert State Prison, a maximum security prison about 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
For the one-month period from July 16 through Aug. 17, five inmates under the age of 40 died at High Desert. Three of those deaths were being investigated as suspected homicides, according to an August press release from the Nevada Department of Corrections.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
