Drowning case defendant dies

A Las Vegas man who was supposed to be watching his 16-month-old nephew, only to fall asleep when the toddler crawled out a doggy door and drowned in a backyard pool, was found dead Thursday at a friend's apartment.

The death of 27-year-old Sean Conrad came two days after he pleaded guilty in the middle of his trial on a felony charge of child abuse.

News of his death shocked not only his family and friends, but the prosecutor who brought his case to court.

In Justice Court Friday on another matter, Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe learned from an attorney that Conrad had died while out on bail.

She left the courtroom distraught, fighting back tears.

"It's tragic," she said in an interview. "It's an absolute tragedy. He probably should have been in custody" for his own protection.

Officials did not know what caused Conrad's death. Toxicology tests will be conducted by the Clark County coroner's office. Authorities found his body at the Running Springs apartments, 4450 E. Karen Ave., near Lamb Boulevard.

Laurie Diefenbach, one of Conrad's attorneys, wasn't just upset by Conrad's death. She doesn't think prosecutors should have brought him to trial.

"All it did was compound a terrible family tragedy," Diefenbach said, saying the drowning was an accident. "He was torn apart by what happened. He couldn't have been more upset, more sorry."

A police toxicology report found that in the wake of Logan Conrad's drowning in February, Sean Conrad had marijuana and cocaine in his system, as well as hydrocodone, a prescription pain reliever.

During pretrial arguments, District Judge Stewart Bell said whether Sean Conrad could be successfully prosecuted hinged on whether Conrad had abused drugs the night before -- or on the morning of -- Logan's death, and whether that drug abuse caused him to fall asleep.

"We looked at the totality of the circumstances when deciding to charge this individual," said District Attorney David Roger. "We have to enforce the law regardless of the personal issues that might be involved. We're not cold-hearted when we make these decisions, but the Legislature had determined certain conduct is criminal and our job is to enforce the law. We don't make the law."

Logan's parents, Eric and Michelle Conrad, strongly supported the decision to prosecute Sean Conrad. Michelle Conrad told the Review-Journal in July that at one point she was so emotional she rode around Las Vegas in hopes of finding her brother-in-law so she could bash in his head with a baseball bat.

Eric Conrad choked back tears Friday as he talked about his brother.

"We had been so close growing up," he said. "He apologized to me twice about Logan. All we wanted is for Sean to get better, to get over his drug problem. Michelle and I had decided that if he got better we would try to move on and put the family back together."

Jeff Maningo, one of Sean Conrad's two public defenders, said his client took a plea deal in the middle of his trial because "he wanted to stand up and take responsibility in hopes of reconciling with his family."

Under the terms of the plea deal, Conrad would have been sentenced to five years of probation. If he successfully completed the probation, his record would reflect only a gross misdemeanor for the case. If not, he would serve eight to 20 years in prison.

Eddie Salas, who described himself as a close friend of Sean Conrad as well as his employer, said Conrad often broke down.

"He would cry all the time," said the owner of Pound4Pound Fitness Box at Fort Apache Road and Twain Avenue, where Sean Conrad worked as a personal trainer. "He talked about how much he loved Logan and how much it hurt him that his family turned their back on him."

At the time of Logan's drowning, Sean Conrad lived with his parents, John and Darlene Conrad. After he was charged in the case, however, they forced him to leave.

Darlene Conrad was arrested on the same felony charge as her son. Authorities said she had asked her son to care for Logan even though she had been asked not to by Logan's parents, who were worried about Sean Conrad's drug use.

Logan's mother said Darlene Conrad promised not to leave her son in Sean Conrad's care, so they took Logan's 4-year-old brother on an overnight trip to California to test his new miniaturized all terrain vehicle. But police reports show that Darlene indeed left Logan with Sean about 9 a.m. -- about four hours after he had returned home from an all night party -- so she could get her hair done.

After her hair was washed, she called home to check on her son and grandson. When Sean Conrad didn't answer, she decided to hurry home. She found her son asleep and her grandson face down in the pool.

Darlene Conrad, 54, was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failure to supervise. She received a six-month suspended sentence.

Monroe made no apologies for pursuing the felony case against Conrad. It was tragic knowing the family would have to deal with a second death, she said.

"I have no pleasure knowing this has happened," she said.

Sean Conrad's life-long friend, Isabelle Godinn, said she felt Conrad's family, prosecutors and the media unfairly judged him.

"He was very soft-hearted," she said. "He had a drug problem and we all were aware of it."

She questioned why family members would put Logan in a circumstance in which someone with a drug problem was watching the boy, and then blame the addict for the boy's death.

"I feel like he was hung out to dry," Godinn said.

After Sean Conrad's father testified against him in court Tuesday, Conrad decided to plead guilty. Godinn said Sean Conrad seemed "really, really sad," as if he were "in a hole."

Godinn said she tried to tell him that his family would heal with time.

Maningo, the defense attorney, thought the family may have been on the mend after Conrad took the plea deal.

He said Sean Conrad received a call Wednesday from his parents, who said they were proud of him for taking the deal. They were supposed to meet this weekend, Maningo said.

Salas said his friend died by accident.

"I heard he wanted to do drugs one last time before he went on probation," he said. "He was just hurting because his family still wouldn't be close to him and he didn't want to feel the pain."

Eric Conrad isn't sure how his family is going to cope.

"I don't know," he sobbed as he was en route to make funeral arrangements.

"I don't know."