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March 28, 2024

DA: Suspect in Strip sidewalk crash faces 1,000 years if convicted

Lakeisha Holloway Makes Initial Appearance

Steve Marcus

Lakeisha Nicole Holloway, 24, of Oregon enters the courtroom Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015, for her initial appearance at Regional Justice Center. Holloway faces charges in a crash that killed one pedestrian and injured 35 others on the Strip on Dec. 20.

Updated Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 | 1:08 p.m.

One Dead, 35 Injured in Strip Crash

Las Vegas Metro Police and crime scene analysts look over a sedan believed to have been involved in an auto-pedestrian crash on the Las Vegas Strip that killed one person and injured at least 30 others in Las Vegas Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015. Launch slideshow »

A 24-year-old woman accused of intentionally running down people along the Las Vegas Strip last month could be sentenced to more than 1,000 years in prison if convicted of all the charges she faces, the district attorney said today.

Prosecutors today filed additional charges against Lakeisha Holloway, who now faces 71 counts related to the crash that killed one person and injured 35 others.

They include one count of murder, 30 counts of attempted murder and four counts of attempted murder of a person 60 years of age or older, officials said. The state filed a number of charges of battery with a deadly weapon for 11 people seriously hurt, officials said.

Holloway also is charged with two counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment for an 11-year-old victim who was hit and for Holloway’s 3-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat of the car, officials said.

“These additional charges reflect the totality of the lives impacted by the defendant’s actions,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a statement. “If convicted of all charges, the defendant may be sentenced to over 1,000 years in prison.”

A charge of fleeing the scene of an accident was dropped, Holloway’s attorney Scott Coffee said at a court hearing today.

The incident happened about 6:40 p.m. Dec. 20 in front of Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood, where a car ran onto the sidewalk, mowing down pedestrians, according to Metro Police.

The car stopped briefly outside Paris Las Vegas before accelerating toward Flamingo Road while still on the sidewalk, witnesses said.

The car turned onto Flamingo and stopped in front of the Tuscany, where Holloway asked a valet attendant to call police, Metro reported.

Holloway was “stoic” when officers arrived, showed no resistance and spoke clearly about what happened, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said previously.

Jessica Valenzuela, 32, of Buckeye, Ariz., was killed. Among those hurt were five Canadians, four Oregon college wrestlers, five Pennsylvania college wrestlers and tourists from Mexico, Florida, Colorado and Washington.

Holloway, an Oregon resident, had been in Las Vegas for at least a week, Lombardo said. She told police she was trying to sleep in her car at casinos but was “run off by security” at various properties.

A toxicology report showed Holloway had traces of marijuana and its metabolic byproduct in her system but not enough to alter her mental state, prosecutors said.

Holloway, who was previously reported to be “suicidal” and under 24-hour supervision, has since been moved to protective custody, Coffee said today. Her daughter has been released from county custody to live with family members, he said.

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