Woman, 24, charged with murder, child abuse, leaving accident scene in Strip crash
Lakeisha Holloway's path to the Strip seems to have passed out of homelessness and back again. And now the woman accused of driving her Oldsmobile onto a busy sidewalk Sunday, killing one and injuring dozens of others, faces a murder charge.
On Tuesday, the Clark County district attorney's office charged Holloway, 24, with one count each of murder with a deadly weapon; child abuse, neglect, or endangerment; and leaving the scene of an accident.
Her first court appearance is scheduled for 8 a.m. today, the office said in a Tuesday morning news release.
Not long ago, Holloway had seemed to be turning her life around. CNN reported an Oregon nonprofit organization gave Holloway a role model award in 2012.
But on surveillance video taken Sunday,a source close to the investigation said, Holloway is seen driving her Oldsmobile along the Strip, creeping along with the flow of traffic, before suddenly accelerating and turning right onto the sidewalk in front of Planet Hollywood Resort.
Pedestrians headed south scattered, but many of those walking north never saw Holloway's car, as they were struck from behind.
Holloway drove through the crosswalk in front of Paris Las Vegas and careened into a light pole. Jessica Valenzuela was trapped under the Oldsmobile for at least 200 yards as pedestrians ran alongside, banging on the car and trying to get Holloway to stop, the source said.
Valenzuela, 32, of Buckeye, Ariz., died at University Medical Center. The Clark County coroner's office did not determine the cause and manner of her death Tuesday. A crowdfunding campaign set up for Valenzuela described her as a wife and mother of three and had already raised more than $33,800 as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Thirty-five people were injured in the crash, three of whom had critical head injuries, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. Most of the injured were taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and UMC.
Some of them were college athletes who had come to compete in the Wartburg Desert Duals wrestling tournament held annually in Las Vegas. Two of the teams, Pacific University of Oregon, and Delaware Valley University, pulled out of the competition Monday as four Pacific team members were injured and five Delaware Valley athletes were reported injured.
Holloway told police that she remembered a body bouncing off her windshield, breaking it. She told police she was not on drugs or alcohol, according to the arrest report.
Blood samples were taken from Holloway, and although she did not demonstrate signs of being under the influence of alcohol when she was arrested, she may have been on stimulants, the report said.
Authorities are expecting results of Holloway's drug test to be returned soon.
Holloway's lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Scott Coffee, said that her status at the jail "speaks to her mental state."
Of the allegations, he said "everybody realizes this is a tragic event," but declined to comment further.
As of Tuesday evening, two people remained in critical condition and three others were listed as serious, UMC spokeswoman Danita Cohen said.
Metro officer Michael Rodriguez said Holloway is in medically restricted custody at the Clark County Detention Center, which could mean she is injured, needs medical attention or is suicidal. There is no designated "suicide watch," Rodriguez said, and if someone in custody showed signs of being suicidal, "we would not disclose that."
Holloway was taken into custody Sunday without incident at the Tuscany, where Lombardo on Monday said she left her daughter in the car and told a valet to call the police because she had hit several people on the Strip.
The 3-year-old child, who wasn't hurt in the crash, was taken from the Tuscany, on the corner of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, and into state custody at Child Haven, Lombardo said.
"Generally speaking, when a child comes into our custody, we make contact with the parent, if available, to determine if there are relatives or 'fictive kin' (people who have a relationship with the child) who may be appropriate for the child's placement," Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa wrote in an email Tuesday.
When asked whether the girl remained in state custody Tuesday, Pappa said he "can't confirm much of anything." It is unclear whether she has been placed with family, but Lombardo said officials were working to find her father.
Las Vegas police are framing the incident as intentional. Lombardo said police do not know Holloway's motive.
Holloway's fortunes seemed brighter not long ago, according to CNN. The nonprofit Portland Opportunities Industrial Center gave Holloway its C.A.R.E. Role Model Award in 2012. The center helps at-risk youth with education and career training.
In a center video for that year, Holloway said she'd been homeless in high school, put out of the house during her high school freshman year by her mother. Holloway said her grades and attendance suffered, and by the end of that school year, her GPA was 1.41.
But she turned things around.
"I beat the odds and was the first of my family and my circle to graduate high school," she said, adding that she graduated with a 3.4 GPA and $17,000 in scholarship money.
Holloway said she was also the first in her family to go to college. Later, she landed a job at the U.S. Forest Service.
"Boy, did I come a long ways," Holloway said on the video. "I was a scared little girl who knew that there was more to life outside of crime, drug addiction, lower income, alcoholism, being undereducated — all of which I grew up being familiar with."
Las Vegas police don't think Sunday's crash was an act of terrorism, but Lombardo said they can't rule it out fully until they know more about Holloway. A national background check turned up no prior arrests for her.
Investigators determined that Holloway has been in Las Vegas for about a week, living in her car with her daughter. Holloway told police that security guards ran her off everywhere she stopped to get some sleep in her car. She ended up on the Strip, "a place she did not want to be," and wouldn't explain why she drove onto the sidewalk, according to the arrest record.
In the release announcing the charges, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson expressed sympathy for the victims and their families.
"This is a horrendous and inexcusable act that has needlessly and tragically impacted countless lives," he wrote. "I am confident that, as the investigation unfolds, we will be filing many more charges against Ms. Holloway."
— Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV. Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter @RandomPoker. Las Vegas Review-Journal writers Ricardo Torres and Matthew Crowley contributed to this report.
