16-year-old finds mom’s body in garage
A 16-year-old girl arrived home from high school Wednesday and was puzzled to find her 1-month-old sister unsupervised and crying.
What she found next was horrifying: her mother on the floor of their garage with a 6-inch metal spike from an industrial tree stand through her skull.
The woman died later at University Medical Center from her injuries.
Police arrested her on-and-off boyfriend, Jesse Lucio, 42, on recommended charges of murder with a deadly weapon about 4:30 a.m. Thursday in northeast Las Vegas. Police said Lucio confessed to the crime.
The woman, believed to be 42, was trying to break up with Lucio when she was killed, Sgt. William Scott said. He added that Lucio might have been the father of the infant left unsupervised in the house.
Police were called at 11:11 a.m. to the 1,328-square-foot ranch-style home in the 5200 block of Jeff Drive near Nellis Boulevard and Walnut Avenue.
The Clark County assessor’s Web site lists the owner of the home as Jana Adams.
Desiree Steiger, a 15-year-old neighbor who was “best friends” with the teen who discovered what had happened, said Adams was the woman who was killed. She said Adams was fun to be around and adored her six daughters.
“She was a great person,” said Desiree, bundled in a blanket as she stood in the street in front of Adams’ home, where yellow crime scene tape twisted in the wind by the garage.
“She went to church every Sunday. … He had no business doing something like that to her,” she said, holding back tears.
Desiree said Lucio was a short-tempered, “eccentric” man, but she had never seen him hit Adams.
Judy Clements, Desiree’s grandmother who lives across the street from Adams’ home with Desiree, said Lucio had a “short fuse.” Clements said she didn’t know Adams that well, but her grandchildren often would play with some of Adams’ younger children.
“She was a good neighbor and cared for her kids and looked out for other kids,” Clements said.
Scott said he believed Adams’ children were being taken care of by their 22-year-old sister.
Clements said she’s haunted by what Adams’ teenager must have seen Wednesday.
“It’s a terrible thing for that kid to come home and find her mother like that,” she said. “It’s going to live with her for the rest of her life.”
Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-4638.