Prosecutors dropped charges against two of six defendants initially arrested in connection with the slaying of a 17-year-old walking home from a party in the northeast valley.
The other four defendants were indicted by a grand jury and pleaded not guilty.
On Tuesday, North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo agreed to dismiss cases against Jesus Ramirez, 20, and Juan Rodriguez-Jimenez, 19, who were both arrested in February and booked on suspicion of murder.
During the hearing, however, prosecutors said charges against Damian Delgado, 18, Luis Pizarro-Cardena, 19, Victor Cardena-Pizarro, 20, and Daniel Murillo would be moved to district court for grand jury proceedings.
Kenneth Frizzell, the lawyer who represented Rodriguez-Jimenez, said that his client’s charges were cleared after investigators, looking at cellphone data and interviewing witnesses, determined that he was not there at the time of the slaying.
According to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report, police received a 911 call on Feb. 16 from a person who said his brother was shot near the 4700 block of Corsaire Avenue, which is near North Nellis Boulevard and Las Vegas Boulevard North. Officers found Luis Garcia-Molina on the ground with what appeared to be several gunshot wounds, the report said.
Police tried to stop a Chevrolet Silverado that had fled the area, the report said. Officers pursued the truck to Henderson and arrested six males.
Not released due to ICE hold
In an indictment filed last week, Delgado, Pizarro-Cardena, Cardena-Pizarro, and Murillo were accused of being involved in the shooting death of Garcia-Molina, 17. Court records show that Delgado and Pizarro-Cardena were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of murder with a deadly weapon, and 12 counts of discharging a firearm at an occupied structure or vehicle.
All four defendants face one count of harboring, concealing, or aiding a felony offender, and Murillo faces one count of evading police. Indictment documents allege that the crimes were gang-related and committed to advance the Clika Los Primos gang.
In court Wednesday, Judge Tierra Jones informed Delgado, Pizarro-Cardena, and Cardena-Pizarro of their charges. The men stood together wearing navy jumpsuits and handcuffs. When Jones asked Delgado whether he graduated from high school, he replied “Ye,” before being chastised by his lawyer, Ryan Helmick.
Murillo did not appear. According to online inmate databases, Murillo was not in custody at the time of the hearing, though a North Las Vegas judge previously issued a warrant for his arrest.
Before the hearing in district court ended, Cardena-Pizarro’s attorney, Jack Buchanan, told the judge that although his client’s family had posted his $50,000 bond, he could not be released because of an immigration hold.
Jones ordered the same bond amount and electronic monitoring release conditions that the North Las Vegas Justice Court previously issued for Cardena-Pizarro. Delgado and Pizarro-Cardena were held without bond, court records show.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
