IN BRIEF
SHOOTOUT AT HOUSE
Slain would-be robber was 28-year-old man
The would-be robber killed by a homeowner early Tuesday was 28-year-old Leland Todd Jordan, the Clark County coroner's office said.
Jordan was killed during a shootout at the house in the 5400 block of Coral Ribbon Avenue, near Lindell and Warm Springs roads. He died from a gunshot wound to his chest.
His two accomplices escaped, Las Vegas police said.
The homeowner told police he was awakened by noises and found a man choking his wife, Lisa Ellison.
A gunfight began, and Ellison was caught in the crossfire between her husband and at least one of the three robbers, police said.
Ellison was shot and remained in fair condition Wednesday at University Medical Center. Who shot her will be determined by ballistics tests.
According to criminal records in California, Jordan had been charged in connection with selling illegal drugs and auto theft.
HUNTRIDGE CIRCLE PARK
Man who fatally knifed transient sentenced
The homeless man whose killing of another transient at Huntridge Circle Park was cited as a reason to close the park was sentenced Wednesday to five to 12 years in prison.
Brian Jason Thrasher, 42, entered an Alford plea in July to voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon in the death of Chris Robinson, 38. The slaying occurred Nov. 24 at the park, on Maryland Parkway near Charleston Boulevard.
An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgement that prosecutors have enough evidence to prove their charge.
Thrasher was arrested after a fight at the park erupted between the two men over some sprinklers Thrasher had broken the day before.
Thrasher stabbed Robinson six times, according to the police report.
Defense attorney Andrea Luem has argued the killing was in self defense.
Thrasher has 265 days credit for time served, prosecutor Frank Coumou said.
DISPUTE OVER $300
Woman pleads guilty to killing mother
A woman accused of killing her mother in a dispute over $300 pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder.
Janet Vener, 40, said she did not remember suffocating her mother, Alise Rogers, on Sept. 7, 2005, inside her apartment on Sahara Avenue near Interstate 15.
The day before the slaying, Vener went to her mother's apartment and asked for $300, but her mother refused, according to the police report.
Witnesses said they saw Vener the next morning break into Rogers' apartment, Vener's attorney, Norm Reed, said.
She is expected to be sentenced Sept. 26, when District Judge Sally Loehrer will have the option of sending Vener to prison for 10 to 25 years or 10 years to life.
BAY AREA ARSON
Muslims offer reward in mosque fire case
Bay Area Muslims on Wednesday announced an reward worth up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons that set fire to an Antioch, Calif., mosque.
The fire, which started early Sunday morning, caused $200,000 in damage to the Islamic Center of the East Bay. Investigators think the blaze was intentionally set but have not found evidence of religious motivation.
Most of the reward money was raised from the Bay Area Muslim community, and the amount could increase as more money is raised, said Safaa Ibrahim, who leads the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
