Chris lost his veteran brother. Jerome lost his elderly mother. How two people cope with the loss of loved ones to suicide and transform their grief into action. (Rachel Aston and Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Rural Nevadans struggle with increased suicide risks
Nevada death row inmate Scott Dozier is dead. Dozier’s death ends his legal odyssey, which began in 2007 when he was convicted in the 2002 murder of Jeremiah Miller, but does little to clarify what’s next for Nevada’s death penalty.
1. A Las Vegas police officer charged with possession and distribution of child pornography died by suicide the night before his sentencing.
2. A Clark County resident hit jackpot Saturday night at Ellis Island Casino and Brewery.
3. CCSD Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky is not happy with how marijuana tax money is being distributed to schools.
1. Police have arrested two men in connection with an execution-style death last week. 65-year-old Jerry Lee Moore was found handcuffed and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head on June 5 on the 1800 block of Cypress Trail near Rancho and Lake Mead. Police did not name the suspects but confirmed the arrest late Wednesday.
2. A second teen charged in the November gang rape of a 14-year-old special education student will be prosecuted as an adult. Dennis Alas-Jarquin is 18 now but was 17 at the time of the crime and is one of four boys charged. 15-year-old Leby Urquilla will also be charged as an adult and the two remaining teens could still be certified as adults in the next few months. Two adults are also charged in the case: Jose Mejia-Henriquez, 18, and Leby Alas-Gomez, 39.
3. A corrections employee committed suicide inside the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump Tuesday. Detention center staff found the man after responding to a fire alarm in the facility, though no fire was found. A source with knowledge of the investigation said tear gas or some other chemical irritant was set off in the room before the suicide and that the death was the result of a gunshot wound. The employee’s name and position have not been released.
1. A man shot and killed himself in public Monday. Police responded at about 1 p.m. to a call on the 500 block on South 11th Street downtown near East Clark, where callers said they were trying to protect children from seeing the crime scene. No additional details were immediately available.
2. A fired CCSD police lieutenant who was fired after he revealed himself as an FBI informant will be reinstated with more than two years backpay. A ruling found that the district wrongfully fired Dan Burgess, who was among several officers who cooperated with the FBI to uncover corruption within the police department. Burgess said in a statement that he looks forward to getting back to work.
3. Police are investigating a possible kidnapping in northwest Las Vegas. Just before 3 p.m., police received a call that a man was seen putting a hand over a woman’s mouth and pushing her into a black sedan near North Hualapai Way and West Centennial Parkway. The caller said another man was in the vehicle. No other details were immediately available.
reviewjournal.com
1. Pahranagat Valley football coach Ken Higbee is facing dozens of forgery and misconduct charges after authorities accused him of stealing about $122,000 from the Lincoln County School District. Higbee was charged April 10 with a 225-count criminal complaint that includes one count of theft, according to records from Meadow Valley Justice Court in Pioche. According to the criminal complaint, Higbee was entrusted with a debit card, credit card and checkbook to spend for the benefit of students at C.O. Bastian but instead used them to deprive the students of funds. No warrant has been issued for Higbee’s arrest.
2. After serving Las Vegas for 33 years, the Dealer’s Choice Lounge is closing for good after a last-ditch effort to revive the business ran out of time. The bar has struggled post the financial crisis as competition in the area increased. Nevada Restaurant Services Inc., the parent of Dotty’s, has applied to open a second Red Dragon Sports Bar at the location, according to a screen shot of a Gaming Control Board application. The Red Dragon would inherit Dealer’s Choice right to operate 15 poker terminals. The Red Dragon will also occupy the massage parlors on either side of the Dealer’s Choice.
3. Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for a murder conviction and just days ago was acquitted of a double murder, died after hanging himself in his prison cell early Wednesday, according to Massachusetts prisons officials. The once New England Patriots tight end was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial-HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster about an hour later. Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population housing unit in the maximum-security state prison. He hanged himself using a bed sheet that he attached to a cell window. Massachusetts State Police remain on the scene investigating the death. (Gabriella Benavidez/Las Vegas Review-Journal)