A judge on Wednesday ordered a defendant accused of killing a toddler and woman in Las Vegas to be held without bail.
Ziaire Ham, 22, was indicted in April on counts of murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.
Authorities say that in March he fatally shot Nhalani Hiner, 1, and her mother’s friend, 20-year-old Danaijha Robinson, who were found inside an SUV in the 11000 block of Victoria Medici Street.
Prosecutors asked for Ham to be held without bail.
Defense attorney Nicholas Wooldridge requested that District Judge Michelle Leavitt release Ham to a psychiatric facility for treatment.
“He’s a first-time offender with absolutely no criminal history prior to this psychotic, catastrophic event,” he said.
The lawyer said Ham has lived in Las Vegas for most of his life.
“The proof is not evident, nor is the presumption great of an open murder or first-degree murder,” he said, referring to a legal standard. “But the proof is evident and the presumption great that this is a case of not guilty by reason of insanity.”
Police have said Ham confessed and said he believed he was being followed. He reportedly said he knew the victims’ car did not belong in the area of the shooting and fired into it when the person inside would not get out.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner argued that Ham had “made a series of very calculated decisions.”
While in Arizona, Ham was concerned someone might harm him and decided to return to Las Vegas, stealing a car to do so, according to Hamner.
Prosecutors have said he pointed a gun at his mother and her boyfriend after arriving at their house in Las Vegas, then committed the fatal shooting.
Hamner said the defendant believed he was in danger and wanted to defend himself.
“The problem is that this 20-year-old girl and this 18-month-old baby aren’t doing anything,” he said. “They’re just sitting in the car. And what we see on the video is Mr. Ham walks up, he starts to shoot from the side of the vehicle and fires off a number of shots. Then he moves to the front of the vehicle and does it again. Essentially, he executes this baby and this young woman.”
The defendant “was not under any delusion” and knew that he had killed someone, but believed the person who died was a white man, Hamner argued.
After the shooting, the prosecutor said Ham fled to Utah, evaded police and continued to commit crimes there. A bail motion said he pleaded guilty to “several charges” in Utah and received a jail sentence.
“All these acts were all done under a delusion, judge,” Wooldridge told Leavitt, adding that his client believed he was being targeted by people including his family members.
Tina Marshall, an aunt of Robinson, sat in Leavitt’s courtroom, tearfully watching the hearing.
“She lost her life being innocent,” she said after court.
Marshall described Leavitt’s decision to keep Ham in jail as “perfect.”
“He is a danger and because I couldn’t protect my niece, at least we could ask for the community to be protected,” she said.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
