Mother supported in custody battle

The girlfriend of a man charged with shooting three Las Vegas SWAT officers was given custody Wednesday of her three children, who were taken into protective custody after the incident.

"I don't see any reason why I can't release them to the mother," Family Court hearing master Thomas Leeds said, referring to Belinda Saavedra.

County prosecutor Ron Cordes said he would challenge Leeds' ruling, which must be approved by a Family Court judge before becoming official.

Cordes also has filed an abuse and neglect charge against the couple.

The children, ages 13, 12 and 3 months, were taken into protective custody after the Dec. 28 shooting in the Henderson community of Seven Hills. They have been in the care of Saavedra's mother, Gay Rearick, since last week.

Rearick, who was visiting from California, has been living with Saavedra and her children.

Cordes said he didn't want Saavedra to be the sole caretaker, so the custody of the children could be up in the air when the grandmother returns home this week.

The gunfire started as Las Vegas police SWAT officers were serving a search warrant at the home Saavedra, 33, shared with her boyfriend, Emmanuel Dozier, 32, who is the baby's father.

In the weeks leading up to the raid, undercover narcotics officers purchased cocaine from Dozier in the driveway of the house, according to court records.

Police said they identified themselves as officers before being met with bullets fired through the front door. Three officers were shot, but none suffered major injury.

Dozier eventually surrendered.

Cordes said Saavedra knew or should have known that Dozier was selling drugs from the house. He also cited her history as a prostitute -- she was arrested three times by Las Vegas police in 2003 -- and noted a diary found at the house that suggested a prostitute-pimp relationship with Dozier.

Cordes also said the house Saavedra moved to after the shooting was provided by a second cousin who has a 1996 conviction in California on drug charges.

"The whole situation appears to be some sort of fabrication" to get the children, Cordes said.

Saavedra's lawyer, Vicki Greco, painted a picture of a devoted mother who had nothing to do with anything criminal.

Greco said Dozier was sleeping and Saavedra was baking peach cobbler when her 13-year-old daughter ran in and yelled about someone breaking into the house.

Dozier woke up in a haze, grabbed his gun and headed for the front door, she said.

Meanwhile, Saavedra put the children in a closet and called 911, Greco said.

"If anybody put the children in harm's way, it was the police," she said.

The attorney said her client's prostitution history was 5 years old and had nothing to do with her current life.

She also pointed out that a different hearing master last week said Saavedra should get her children if her house passed an inspection and she passed a drug test, which she did.

Rearick, a 30-year U.S. Army veteran, said she is her daughter's harshest critic and would not have supported her if she believed she were unfit to care for her children.

Rearick said she believed Dozier meant no harm to the police.

"I believe, from the bottom of my heart, he was protecting his kids."

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.