The man accused of causing a crash that killed a North Las Vegas teen has posted a $250,000 bond, and it appears he is now out of police custody.
There was no online record of Triquan Hughes, 31, at either the North Las Vegas or Clark County detention centers on Monday afternoon. Hughes had been housed at one of the two facilities since he was arrested in the May 2 crash that killed Janiah Gant, 17, and critically injured her sister, Leilani Wigfall, 19, near the intersection of Simmons Street and Craig Road.
On Thursday, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Pro Tem Joel Mann declined a request from the Clark County district attorney’s office to hike Hughes’ bail from $250,000 to $500,000 after prosecutors tacked on two driving under the influence charges against Hughes.
That decision angered Angela Anderson, mother of Gant and Wigfall.
“A slap in the face,” Anderson said after the hearing in which bail was kept the same.
Hughes, according to North Las Vegas Justice Court records, has posted a $250,000 surety bond through bonding company Express Bail Bonds.
“CCDC: Posted bail with high level electronic monitoring with options monitoring and no drugs, no driving, no alcohol,” an entry in Hughes’ case reads.
Sandy Heverly, co-founder of Stop DUI Nevada, said she didn’t agree with the decision to leave the bail the same for Hughes.
“The family members are going to be very distraught,” Heverly said. “We are concerned. We don’t think he should be out at all. He’s a public menace.”
North Las Vegas police said Hughes was speeding and ran a red light at the time of the crash, causing his BMW to clip another vehicle. The BMW then went up onto the sidewalk and into the teens as they were walking to the store to get snacks. Prosecutors originally charged Hughes with reckless driving causing death or serious injury and later tacked on two counts of felony DUI, alleging that Hughes was above the legal limit for marijuana at the time.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for June 17.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
