Separated from others in jail, Bryan Clay awaits trial
When Bryan Clay was being questioned in connection with the fatal bludgeoning attacks on Yadira and Karla Martinez, he told detectives he preferred they kill him on the spot instead of taking him to jail.
He didn’t get his wish, but he still might die at the hands of the government. Prosecutors want him executed by lethal injection.
Clay will mark his 23rd birthday at the end of April in a jail cell at the Clark County Detention Center, where he has been held since his arrest April 27. He is alone in a 47-square-foot cell and eats by himself, too. He doesn’t mingle with the general population. Police say it’s for his protection.
At his arraignment last year, Clay pleaded not guilty.
The next step in the case happens June 19, when Clay is scheduled to appear in Clark County District Court for a “calendar call” — a hearing where prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge decide whether the case is ready to proceed to trial. His jury trial is scheduled to begin June 24.
Last June, a Clark County grand jury indicted him on charges of first-degree kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, sexual assault with use of a deadly weapon, two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14 years of age with use of a deadly weapon, and two counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon.
The charges stem from two separate incidents that police allege Clay committed in the early morning hours of April 15, 2012:
- The sexual assault of a 50-year-old woman in a vacant lot at Vegas and Tonopah drives.
- The sexual assaults and killings of Yadira Martinez, 38, and her 10-year-old daughter Karla, as well as the attempted murder of Arturo Martinez-Sanchez, in the family’s home at 1016 Robin St.
A week after the grand jury indictment, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty if Clay is convicted.
Public records don’t offer much information about Clay. A police arrest report lists him as a 140-pound black male, about 5-foot-7 and known to acquaintances as “King Junior.” Detectives wrote “transient” in a spot for his address.
School officials confirmed Clay was a student in the Clark County School District at some point but wouldn’t elaborate.
Homicide detectives homed in on Clay because of the call history of a cellphone found at the scene of the first assault. The call recipients told investigators the caller was known as “Junior” or “King Junior,” and one person identified “Junior” as a friend named Bryan Clay who often calls asking for rides.
On April 27, 2012, Clay’s mother, who knew her son was being sought, contacted police and said he was sleeping in her house.
Detectives arrested Clay on a warrant charging him with felony child abuse allegedly involving a 16-year-old girl pregnant with his child — and questioned him about the April 15 crimes.
Clay denied attacking the first woman and stealing her cellphone near Vegas and Tonopah drives.
He told detectives that during a night of partying, he drank some “dark liquor,” smoked cigarettes dipped in PCP, took ecstasy and woke up the next morning with a cellphone next to him.
When detectives asked him about the attacks on the Martinez-Sanchez family, he said he could not remember.
That’s when he told detectives they should kill him rather than arrest him.
Clay then commended detectives for the professionalism dealing with him.
After his arrest, detectives learned Clay’s DNA matched the DNA evidence found on the 50-year-old woman’s jacket and the bodies of Yadira and Karla Martinez.
Additionally, a fingerprint found inside 1016 Robin St. matched Clay’s left thumb.
Clay is being represented by court-appointed defense attorneys Christopher Oram and Anthony Sgro.
Oram said he could not comment about the case. Sgro did not return phone calls seeking comment.