Nevada governor renews call for tougher DUI penalties after death of 12-year-old

Gov. Joe Lombardo called for increased DUI penalties after a 12-year-old boy died after being hit by a suspected drunken driver in North Las Vegas.

Christofer Suarez, a student at Smith Middle School, died Monday after he was struck by an SUV while walking to school Friday morning. His death spurred road safety advocates to demand increased safety measures.

In a Tuesday statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lombardo said he and his wife Donna were “heartbroken” to learn of Suarez’ death.

“His tragic death reiterates the desperate need for greater DUI penalties in our state — which my administration will continue to fight for every day,” he said.

The Nevada Legislature recently passed traffic safety bills, including one that increases DUI penalties for repeat offenders, but the governor will likely try to revive his comprehensive crime bill, the Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act, which includes tougher penalties for DUI offenses, particularly for those who cause a death.

Lombardo on Monday announced he would call the Nevada Legislature back to Carson City for a special session to “finish what the Legislature left unfinished — plain and simple.”

One example of the Legislature’s unfinished business is public safety, said Elizabeth Ray, the governor’s spokesperson.

“Their failure to move the Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act — when there was clear agreement on both sides of the aisle — means that millions of Nevadans and visitors are at unnecessary risk, which is unacceptable,” Ray said in a statement.

The governor’s bill, Senate Bill 457, made sweeping criminal reform proposals, including increasing penalties for DUI offenses that cause a death to five to 25 years of imprisonment. It also would have raised the possible sentence for a DUI driver with a third offense within seven years to a maximum of 15 years in prison. The Nevada Legislature failed to pass it before the session ended after last-minute changes were proposed.

Other bills aiming to improve traffic safety were successful.

Senate Bill 309, sponsored by state Sen. John Steinbeck, R-Las Vegas, successfully increased DUI penalties for a person found guilty of a second offense within seven years from 10 days to 20 days as a minimum term of imprisonment.

The new law, which took effect Oct. 1, also provided that an offense qualifies as a prior offense if the person is undergoing a treatment program for alcohol or substance use disorder, and it reduced the concentration of alcohol threshold from 0.18 to 0.16 to require an offender to be evaluated for an alcohol or substance use disorder. The bill passed both chambers unanimously. Steinbeck did not return a request for comment.

Another new law that took effect July 1 allows a school district to install infraction detection systems on school buses to monitor school bus stops and catch drivers running past school bus stops.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.