New discrepancies in case of woman charged with running down boyfriend with car

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016 | 2 a.m.

The man’s girlfriend called 911 about an hour after he was left unconscious on the ground outside their apartment complex, their car parked nearby with a broken and blood-splattered windshield that also contained pieces of his clothing.

Lahtijera Howard, 26, who would soon be accused of killing Darryl White, 34, told a dispatcher that the couple had been in a domestic violence situation — and that he had just left, according to Metro Police.

Her arrest report released this week details White’s Sept. 7 death and Howard’s apparent erratic behavior during her encounter with police.

White was struck about 2:20 p.m. by a Dodge Intrepid, which was registered to the couple, going 35 to 40 mph in the 3700 block of Bonanza Road. His body was found in a landscaped area outside the complex the couple lived in, police said.

Howard’s relative, who she was in the process of moving in with her after a fight with White, told police that she had seen Howard driving the newly damaged car that day.

The damage police allege was incurred in the crash with White was not there previous to that day, the relative told investigators.

Upon their first contact with Howard, police said she simulated having a gun in her blouse and told them they had to kill her because she wasn’t going to jail for “murder.”

Detectives deescalated the situation and discovered that Howard’s pretend weapon was a lightbulb with the metal part sticking out of her clothes, police said.

The report said Howard had chewed off her fingernails and further tried harming herself by manipulating the handcuffs and pressing them against her neck, which left an abrasion mark.

Police allege she “attempted to fake injures to make her lies more believable to a more sympathetic audience,” according to the report.

Those lies, according to police, include Howard saying that White had just left when she called 911, and telling detectives that her live-in boyfriend had just punched her in the nose and choked her. She did not appear to have any marks on her, police said.

Howard and White were involved in at least two previous domestic violence incidents Metro investigated in which Howard was booked on domestic battery charges, records show.

Documents show that Howard was suspected of stabbing White in the thigh during a fight at their apartment. She told investigators that White had punched her multiple times with a closed fist, according to her arrest report. Before her arrest, Howard was hospitalized with several small cuts to her hand.

Last year, she told police that White had hit her in the face — she couldn’t say if it was a slap or a punch, the report said. Investigators found only a scratch to her back from where White told police he had pulled on her shirt when she tried taking their son, who he had alleged was kicked by her.

The three incidents included fights over possession of their toddler son, documents show.

Howard is currently booked at the Clark County Detention Center on one count of murder. Her arraignment hearing is scheduled for Monday, jail records show.