IN BRIEF

WOMAN'S SLAYING

Suspect can't afford bail, defender says

The man accused of shooting and killing a woman at a stop light in March was granted $500,000 bail Monday but probably will remain behind bars because he cannot come up with the amount.

Calvin Kirklin, 21, previously had been held without bail at the county jail. Kirklin's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Joe Abood, said Kirklin could not afford the $500,000.

Kirklin is accused of shooting 39-year-old Blanca Gonzalez at the intersection of Nellis and Charleston boulevards. Kirklin was driving with three adults and his infant son when he came to the intersection. He told police he was intoxicated and handling the pistol when it discharged.

After the shooting, Gonzalez's teenage son, who was in the passenger seat of their vehicle, cradled his mother as she lay dying.

FREMONT STREET INCIDENT

Police discover man slain in motel room

A man was found slain late Sunday night in a Fremont Street motel room, Las Vegas police said Monday.

Police responded to an 11:45 p.m. call about a shooting inside the Lamplighter Motel, 2805 Fremont St., where they discovered a man who had been killed by a possible gunshot wound.

As of Monday afternoon, no arrests had been made. Police were looking for three suspects, a man and two women, in connection with the killing.

Witnesses saw the people near the motel around the time of the slaying but could provide no detailed descriptions to police.

The identity of the victim was unavailable Monday.

Anyone with information regarding the case is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's homicide section at 828-3521.

TRAFFIC FATALITY

Teenage driver killed in collision with truck

An 18-year-old Las Vegas woman driving a Ford Taurus died Sunday night when her vehicle collided with a pickup on Shelbourne Avenue at Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas police said.

The woman and two teenage passengers were turning off the eastbound lane of Shelbourne onto southbound Las Vegas Boulevard around 7:56 p.m. Sunday when the collision occurred.

The driver of the Ford pickup was traveling south on Las Vegas Boulevard as the other driver pulled away from the stop sign.

The 18-year-old victim, who was not identified by police, died at the scene. The two passengers were taken to University Medical Center with moderate to critical injuries, police said.

The driver of the pickup, 22-year-old Tasha Stewart-Irwin, and the three young passengers in her vehicle were uninjured.

The collision remains under investigation by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. It is the second traffic-related fatality in the agency's jurisdiction this year.